BA RECORDS 66.8 PER CENT NHIS REGISTRATION (BACK PAGE, MAY 18, 2010)

THE Brong Ahafo Region has so far registered 1,479,370 subscribers under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The figure represents 66.8 per cent of the region’s population of 2,213,318.
Notwithstanding the achievement, the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) and the regional office of the NHIS are evolving strategies to educate more people to join onto the scheme.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Quad Nyamekye-Marfo, who made this known, indicated that between January and December 2009, the government paid GH¢27,623,193.05 as subsidies and re-insurance claims to all the 19 schemes in the region.
The amount, he said, was a significant improvement over the GH¢15,820,016.30 paid for the same period in 2008.
The regional minister, who was addressing the regional “Meet-the-Press” programme at the auditorium of the Sunyani Polytechnic, said it was even more gratifying to note that from January to May 2010, the government had paid GH¢22,049,989.10 to all the 19 schemes in the region.
According to him, Guinea worm infections reduced from 11 cases to two, representing a significant decrease of 78 per cent.
He expressed the hope that by the end of this year, the region would record no case of Guinea worm infection.
On maternal deaths, Mr Nyamekye-Marfo said 94 cases were recorded in 2009, compared to 81 in the previous year, saying that the situation could be attributed largely to delays in sending expectant mothers to health facilities.
Making reference to the 2009 HIV Sentinel Survey Report, he said the region ranked seventh among the 10 regions in the country.
That, he explained, was an increase of 0.3 per cent over the 2008 rate and attributed the increase to complacency.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo pointed out that in fulfilment of the government’s promise to continue with high-level support for the HIV/AIDS initiative, the 22 municipal and district assemblies received funding of between GH¢2,500 and GH¢2,650 each, while the RCC sourced GH¢4,000 mainly for co-ordination and management, as well as monitoring and evaluation of decentralised responses in 2009.
Besides, he said, four civil society organisations (CSOs) received GH¢25,000 each for HIV/AIDS projects in the region, adding that the major challenges facing the health sector in the region included inadequate health personnel, especially doctors and nurses.
The regional minister said despite the human resource and logistic constraints, health workers in the region had delivered to the expectation of the citizenry and that the RCC appreciated the relentless efforts of the health workers.
On education, Mr Nyamekye-Marfo indicated that significant gains were made in respect of the enrolment of pupils and students between 2008 and 2009, adding that in 2008, 61 per cent of candidates in the region who sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) passed, with the percentage increasing to 64.7 per cent in 2009.
He said the proposal to establish a university of Energy and Natural Resources in the region was enshrined in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) “Better Ghana” manifesto, pointing out that a lot of effort had been made, both at the national and the regional levels, to ensure that the region was on track to achieving that dream.
The regional minister again said the region took delivery of and distributed 160,000 school uniforms to basic school pupils in deprived communities, in fulfilment of the NDC manifesto. The region also took delivery of the first tranche of 717,864 exercise books, comprising 669,203 Note 1 types and 48,661 graph books for distribution.
He further indicated that since January 2009, the GETFund and the Ministry of Education had provided funding to complete educational projects in some schools which were either abandoned or left uncompleted for several years.
On agriculture, he said generally, food crop production significantly increased during the year 2009, and that maize, for instance, recorded a 26.93 per cent increase yield while rice production increased by over 400 per cent. “Food crops generally recorded relatively stable prices throughout the year, “ he said.
The regional minister also spoke on gains made in the other sectors in the region, namely road, tourism/industry, energy, water and sanitation as well as security.