A lecturer at the Kumasi-campus of the University of Education, Winneba, Mr. Aaron Kumah has cautioned former President John Mahama to quit promising free primary healthcare for all Ghanaians if not he’ll launch a campaign against him that he wants to collapse the National Health Insurance.
According to the lecturer, the free primary healthcare by Mahama is not realistic and can never be done. He noted that John Mahama’s administration had health service personnel complaining every time in the country because they couldn’t use the premium and other VAT components to take care of primary health.
“It is under the last four years of the NDC government that health service providers really complained in this country. Every single week, you will hear of the health service providers complain, if it’s not the pharmaceutical association, then it’s the mission hospitals, this continued till the end of his tenure amidst taking premium and NHIS benefits. You couldn’t use the premium and other VAT components to take care of primary health care then and you expect us to believe you now that you are going to make it free,” the lecturer stated.
He further stated that the former president couldn’t manage the health sector well with health insurance benefits yet he keeps promising free primary healthcare for over 30 million Ghanaians.
“Even with health insurance benefits, you couldn’t manage the health sector well and now you expect us to hand over our health service to you to make primary health care free… I beg him, he should take that part out of his utterances and intentions… I beg him, he shouldn’t mention free primary health care ever again. They should come out to tell Ghanaians that they didn’t understand the primary health care well and so they have taken it out of their manifesto and they will come up with a new policy.
Mr Aaron added, “he could have said something like completing the health structures that he commenced and has been abandoned by the NPP administration but on primary health care, he can never convince us Ghanaians that he will make it free… If he doesn’t stop trumpeting the free primary health care agenda, I’m from now going to campaign that President Mahama is coming to collapse the health insurance scheme so we shouldn’t vote for him. He should stop talking [free] primary health care. This is a serious matter. It can’t happen. He can never do it. Ghanaians should not listen to him.”
Source: GhanaFeed.com
