Tuesday 22 March 2011

Ghana's NHIS wins major world award

Mr. Sylvester A. Mensah, Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority receiving the award from Ambassador Dr. Josephine Ojiambo.
Mr. Sylvester A. Mensah, Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority receiving the award from Ambassador Dr. Josephine Ojiambo.
 

 
 
 
   

 
Ghana’s Social Health Insurance Model has been recognized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and singled out for the coveted South-South Cooperation Excellence Award, in Geneva, Switzerland.

This followed a presentation by Mr. Sylvester A. Mensah, Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) at the Global South-South Development Expo 2010, held in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 22, 2010 to November 26, 2010, at which he highlighted the operational dynamics and successes of the Ghanaian health insurance experience, including the way forward and expectations for the period ending 2012 and beyond.

The World Health Organization and United Nations Development Programme acknowledged that Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme has improved financial access to healthcare services, particularly for the poor and marginalized.

Ghana’s health insurance scheme was lauded for the proposed legal reforms, clinical audit mechanisms and for serving as a hub for knowledge-sharing and learning within the context of South-South Cooperation.

Presenting the award to Ghana, Ambassador Dr. Josephine Ojiambo, Deputy Permanent Representative and President of the High-Level Committee for South-South Cooperation, cited Ghana for playing host to a number of developing countries intending to improve upon their health insurance schemes and hoped that Ghana would sustain and achieve further successes through its home-grown demand-driven initiatives and strategies.

She implored management of the NHIS to document its operations and develop protocols to reduce the learning curve for other countries in their quest to succeed in removing financial barriers to healthcare.

Citation

Myjoyonline Ghana News Photos |
Mr. Sylvester A. Mensah
 
The citation which reads, “South-South Cooperation Excellence Award 2010, In Recognition of Improving Financial Access to Healthcare Services: The Ghana Experience”, acknowledged the current management of the National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS) for home grown demand-driven cost containment initiatives, including the pending introduction of capitation for out-patient primary healthcare, as a provider payment mechanism alongside the existing Ghana Diagnostic Related Groupings(G-DRG) payment system.

Receiving the Award on Thursday, November 25, 2010, in Geneva, on behalf of the Authority and Ghana, the Chief Executive of the NHIA, Mr. Sylvester A. Mensah expressed Ghana’s profound appreciation to the UNDP and WHO for the recognition and honour done to Ghana and the Scheme, and pledged the determination of the Scheme to sustain the scaling up of financial risk protection, with particular focus in the coming years on the poor, saying, ”The challenge for the coming years is to continuously improve efficiency and achieve more from available resources”.


Credit: NHIA

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