From Samuel Agbewode
The Krachi East National Health Insurance Scheme Manager, Mr. Prosper Ohumawu, has expressed regret that even though personnel of the scheme have been working hard to increase membership in the District, their efforts are not being appreciated, as a result of the lack of a hospital in the area.
Mr. Ohumawu said the district management of the NHIS could boast of 76.34 percent of the total population of 116,804, with 30,956 as active members, as at June 2014. He further said that even though much had been achieved under difficult situations, personnel of the scheme in the district continued to render dedicated service to the people.
The Scheme Manager explained that valid card holders normally use these them at the available clinics and health centers at Dambai, the district capital, Domabin and Tokoroano, and anytime their health conditions demanded that they should be referred to hospitals, the card holders complained that it was because of the card that health practitioners decide not to treat them.
According to Mr. Ohumawu, most times, people referred to hospitals at Krachi-Nkwanta in the Nkwanta-South District, or the Worawora Hospital in the Biakoye District, would rather come to the scheme office to complain, questioning the relevance of the NHIS card.
He also noted that patients, at times, underrate the competences of health workers at the clinics and health centers for referring them to hospitals.
Mr. Ohumawu further explained that even though he shared the concerns of the patients, who had to travel, for instance, 69 kilometres to the Nkwanta Hospital, and 59 kilometres to the Worawora Hospital, those concerns were based on total ignorance, because most of them did not understand that the clinics and health centers were not big facilities that could address more serious health problems, therefore, needed to be transferred to a hospital for more effective treatment.
He continued that a serious challenge that confronted the NHIS workers in the area was the task of visiting 40 island communities, where they would spend three to four hours on the Volta Lake, and that whenever the personnel met bad weather, they risked their lives, a situation that made it impossible for them to visit these island communities more frequently.
Mr. Ohumawu mentioned some of the island communities as Jerusalem, Ativekope, Nyekornakpoe, Tewekpo, Old Banka, Amuzukope, Kesekpo and Injari, where the use of an engine boat on the Volta Lake was the only means of transport.
He disclosed that the management of the scheme had to rent engine boat for the visit, which, he pointed out, was costly, but nothing could be done about the situation than to always pray for good weather whenever travelling on the lake.
He revealed that some parents from island communities in the district were recently travelling to Tokoroano-Ayrafie Battor to weigh their children, but unfortunately, the boat in which they were travelling capsized, and 30 children and their mothers died. He explained that the island communities have no health facilities to take care of their health needs in view of the geographical location.
The Krachi East NHIS Manager noted that the situation had affected activities aimed at increasing membership of the scheme, as 40 percent of the total population of the district lived in island communities, saying in view of the danger travelling on the Volta Lake posed to personnel of the scheme, a visit to the island communities was carried out after every five to six months.
Mr. Ohumawu said the difficulty involved in travelling on the lake, normally led to the situation where the people relied on the use of herbal medicines through self medication, using these herbal products for longer periods hoping to be healed, but if their conditions worsen before they would cross the lake to be attended to at health centers and clinics, they would have to be referred.
He continued that personnel of the scheme were most times considered as politicians who normally visit these island communities to campaign for votes, and that the people would not be prepared to listen to them until they were told that the personnel were there to assist them get registered to benefit from free heath care.
The Scheme Manager proposed that a fibre boat be provided for the NHIS management in the district to facilitate regular visits to island communities, as well as guarantee the safety of workers, who spend hours on the lake, would also help the management from spending huge sums of money to rent engine boats.
Mr. Ohumawu said another problem was the bad road network in the area, saying the only pick-up vehicle was being used for administrative purposes, as well as for educating the people on the scheme, and appealed the need for more vehicles and motorbikes to facilitate easy movement to the communities.
He appealed to the National Health Insurance Authority to come up with motivational packages that would encourage them to work harder than before, since travelling on the Volta and Oti rivers was very risky, as such incentive packages would help in motivating personnel in the rural communities.
The District Public Relations Officer of the Scheme, Mr. Francis Kofi Okesu, pointed out that some of the people were beginning to realise the importance of the NHIS in the area, as a man who was suffering from hernia was operated on at the Krachi-Nkwanta Hospital free of charge, and to his surprise, when who was asked to go, and questioned as to how much he would pay, the answer was that the NHIS would pay on his behalf.
The man (name withheld) was not sure, so he visited the NHIS office at Dambai and narrated to the personnel how he was operated on free at the Nkwanta Hospital and since then had become one of the “evangelists” spreading the good news about the need for more people to get themselves registered, to enable them enjoy free health care, just as he experienced.
Mr. Okesu stated that the scheme was intensifying its educational activities in the area to increase membership.
He disclosed that the management had strategised to increase membership by employing Senior High School (SHS) leavers to help in the renewal of the cards, by ensuring that people whose cards had expired would have them collected and brought to the office for renewal, as well as register new members.
Another challenge Mr. Okesu pointed out which was a major threat to health care delivery, was because the only ambulance in the district broke down a year ago and had not been replaced, and that anytime a pregnant woman was going for delivery, it it was difficult to transport the person to the Worawora Hospital or other hospitals.