Additionally, the committee underscored the need for a governing council to serve as a body that would oversee the funding of non-core activities of the scheme. The recommendations were contained in  a report which the committee presented to the Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, in Accra.

Primary health care, which includes the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS), is the first level of contact individuals, families and communities have in the healthcare system.

The Chairman of the Review Committee, Dr Chris Atim, who presented the report to the minister, said for the scheme to be viable, it should focus on improving on its efficiency. The document, which contains an assessment of the scheme and key recommendations based upon extensive review, focused on the scheme’s sustainability, accountability, transparency and user satisfaction.

Key recommendations

Among the key recommendations were that the NHIS should provide basic services which the country needed most, through the provision of primary healthcare packages. The report also called for the prioritisation of maternal and child health under the NHIS.

Dr Atim said after consultation with various relevant stakeholders, the committee was of the view that the country needed to prioritise issues of maternal and child health under the scheme to address the high rate of maternal and child mortality.

He underscored the need for efforts to ensure the efficiency of the scheme through good governance and feedback from subscribers. He said the country was currently paying dearly for the non-performance in its primary healthcare system as it failed to factor in preventive health care, leading to a high record of preventable diseases and deaths.

Government’s commitment

Mr Segbefia expressed gratitude to the members of the committee for their time and efforts. He said the government was committed to the success of the NHIS, and added that contrary to the perception by a section of the public that the scheme was dying, it was rather growing year-on-year with impressive results.

He said after its implementation for 13 years, it had become necessary to review the scheme so as to address some of its challenges to make it work better. He acknowledged that while most of the challenges had been design problems, others had been operational and assured the committee that their recommendations would be dealt with appropriately.