WEREKO-BROBBY PAYS INSURANCE PREMIUM FOR 1,000 (P.49)

Story: Kofi Yeboah
THE Chief Executive of the Ghana@50 Secretariat, Dr Charles Yves Wereko-Brobby, has made a personal donation of GH¢10,000 (¢100 million) to cover the health insurance premiums of 1,000 youth in the Efigya Sekyere District in the Ashanti Region.
Twenty youth from each of the 50 constituencies in the district are to benefit from the package which cheque was presented to the Presiding Member of the Efigya Sekyere District Assembly, Mr Kwasi Karikari Achamfuor, last Saturday.
The benevolence of Dr Wereko-Brobby, who is a native of Agona Asante in the Efigya Sekyere District, would enable the beneficiaries to sign up to the District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme (DMHIS) and consequently, enjoy free medical service for one year.
“There are many Ghanaians who have lots of resources and it is important for them to support those who don’t have to benefit from the health insurance scheme,” Dr Wereko-Brobby made a clarion call on the well-to-do in society through the Daily Graphic yesterday.
“The health insurance concept is a good initiative but there are many people who are not taking advantage of it because of financial difficulties. One way to help the scheme to grow and for all to accept the concept is for those who have to help the have-nots,” he added.
Dr Wereko-Brobby said it was a normal practice in the traditional setting for wealthy people to pay the medical bills of their relations.
He, however, noted that under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the bill paid for medical treatment was far cheaper than that paid under the old system.
Moreover, he said, with the NHIS, one could take care of the health bills of many family relations with the same amount of money that he or she would have spent on the bill of just one relative under the old policy of cash and carry.
Dr Wereko-Brobby said many people had not signed up to the scheme because they did not understand the concept, but pointed out that if those people were given the necessary support to experience its benefits they would be the best apostles of the concept.
He suggested a communal support approach in which benefactors would extend their financial support beyond their family relations to the entire community.
Dr Wereko-Brobby said the decision to support the youth was based on the fact that they were the productive force of the country and so it was important to offer them a basis to believe that they had a future in the country.
He observed that many of the youth who were unemployed were economically handicapped and as such that misfortune should not be allowed to be compounded by illness.
“It’s my belief that once they know what it means and its advantages, when it is time for renewal, they would find money to support themselves,” he said.
Dr Wereko-Brobby expressed the hope that the District Assembly would not discriminate in favour of relations of Assembly members in the selection of the beneficiaries for the package.
“We are trusting on the integrity of the assembly men and women to give it to those who really need it,” he remarked.
Dr Wereko-Brobby suggested the establishment of a resource and expert support unit in various communities to serve as the “grass roots beginning to economic independence”, by helping to manage development projects in the communities.
Such initiative, he said, would facilitate local training programmes, education and small enterprises, among other ventures, to build the economic foundation of the communities.