PWDs register with Adentan Municipal NHIS

Eighty Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) within the Adentan Municipality, have so far registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The exercise, the second in a series, was jointly organized by the Department of Social Welfare and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), in collaboration with Intervention Forum (IF), a non-governmental organization...

Ms Martha Adu, Social Welfare Officer, said her department was directed by the NHIA to register the PWDs, comprising mainly the physically disabled, visually and hearing impaired.

Ms Adu said she was expecting some 200 persons to be registered for the exercise, but expressed regret that the reported number fell short of the target.

“I wish there will be a repetition of the exercise. Those who came today must pass on the information to those who could not come and register today,” she stated.

She attributed the poor attendance to lack of information to members of the Federation, and suggested that the Municipal Assembly provided vehicles to transport as many persons with disabilities as possible to the next round of the exercise.

She, however, gave no indication as to when this could come off.

Mr Joseph Adjetey, accountant at the district office of the NHIA, said his outfit had a programme for the poor, indigent and vulnerable in society, and that the NHIS registration exercise formed part of it.

“This is a continuous exercise. The Social Welfare gave us a list to register under the Ghana Federation of the Disabled. Our programme also includes the mentally impaired and the school feeding programme, but we have not been able to do this yet,” Mr Adjetey explained.

He said his outfit had a list of schools to register by November, and attributed the low patronage of the exercise to lack of information and transportation, saying the authority would give persons who could not avail themselves of the opportunity to register for the NHI another chance to do so.

Mr Lawrence Abban, Chairman of the Adentan branch of the Ghana Federation of Disabled, said he got information about the registration exercise, but was not satisfied with the manner of publicity which accounted for the low patronage.

“We had information through telephone calls, but I think this should have been announced on radio for everyone to be aware of the exercise.

Mr Abban, was however, satisfied with the organized manner in which the exercise was carried out.

Ms Nora Ollennu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IF, endorsed the need for a repetition of the NHIS registration for the PWDs.

Mr Edward Kwasi Owusu, a 62-year-old impaired, said he got the information through a telephone call from the President of his Association, Mr Derrick Asare, and felt very happy about the news, because he has been thinking about the NHIS registration for a long time.

“I was frightened by the long queues that normally characterize such an exercise. Therefore, I was very glad when I got the news,” he said.

Mr Owusu commended Ms Ollennu and her organization for the continuous assistance to members of the PWDs.

“I got to know them not long ago but they have been doing quite well for the Federation. They also involve us in meetings with the Adentan Municipal Assembly (AdMA) on such issues as governance and decentralization.

“They have made us aware that we PWDs must be involved in governance, so we can now voice our concerns to the government through the AdMA; we now know we are part and parcel of government,” he stressed.

On how he felt about the entire exercise, Mr Owusu confided that he was previously paying cash for his health.

“Because of my condition, I had to take taxi to get to the nearest health facility. But now the NHIS card will help me greatly to reduce the cost of my health care.

“IF and Ms Ollennu are doing tremendous work. Through their collaboration, we get involved in their activities such as budget analysis.