Embrace NHIS Capitation System � Minister

The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Muniru Limuna, has called on the people of the Northern Region and players within the NHIA to ensure the sustenance of the capitation system being introduced by the NHIA. Alhaji Limuna made the call when a team from the NHIA, led by Mr Anthony Gingong, who are in the region to sensitise people on the capitation system, paid a courtesy call on him in his office in Tamale. According to the Minister, the National Health Insurance Scheme is one of the most significant social interventions ever rolled out by the state to cushion the vulnerable in the society through the provision of quality healthcare to promote productivity. On the introduction of the capitation, Alhaji was emphatic on the benefits that the country stands to gain in the health sector. According to him, the patients would be able to make informed choices as to the facilities where they can get quality healthcare service, and called for support for the system. He, however, cautioned against the politicisation of the scheme, adding that it will only lead to the collapse of the entire system. �Health is wealth, and the NHIA system has been one of the significant social interventions ever rolled out by the state, so we must all support it and also guard against the politicisation of an important social intervention like this; for if we go on that tangent, we might be taking the first step on our journey to collapse the healthcare delivery system.� Mr Gingong, on his part, thanked the regional minister for his warm gesture and encouragement and called on the people of Tamale to put all hands on deck to ensure the successful sensitisation and implementation of the capitation system. According to him, the capitation system, when implemented well, would help improve the country�s healthcare system tremendously. He further noted that the successful implementation of the capitation system would play out non-performing facilities. �The significance of the health insurance scheme to health delivery in the country is huge, and we should work hard to sustain it such that we can also bequeath to the next generation, maybe a more robust, efficient and effective healthcare system than we have today this. I think with slight change in priorities and attitude, we can do and we must do it. The capitation system will ensure accuracy of data and improved relationship between the doctor and the patient, and also non-performing health delivery facilities risk being played out,� he noted. At a sensitisation workshop for some selected staff of the Ministry of Health on the implementation of the capitation system, the Northern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Jacob Mahama, thanked the NHIA team for the sensitisation, and called on all stakeholders in the healthcare delivery system to embrace it and work hard to ensure its successful implementation. �The capitation system, when implemented to satisfaction, would in no doubt strengthen and improve the healthcare delivery system, and I think it�s time we call on all players within the healthcare delivery brackets in our region to support to work assiduously to guarantee the successful implementation and sustenance of the capitation system.�