Editorial (The Daily Searchlight, Wednesday, May 18, 2022)
The Community Development Alliance (CDA), has observed that the charging of unapproved fees by health service providers is one of the major causes of preventable deaths, especially among pregnant women and newborns.
It said pregnant women and other members of the society who were active subscribers of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) were reluctant in seeking timely medical care due to the fear of being charged fees they could not pay.
Mr Salifu Issifu Kanton, the Executive Director of the CDA, made the observation in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa in relation to complaints from a section of the public about paying for health services that were covered by the NHIS.
He said a health assessment conducted by the CDA in 2021 revealed unapproved top-up charges by some health facilities as one of the setbacks to timely access to healthcare services, especially by the poor and vulnerable groups in society.
In addition to the ‘top-up’ fees being charged in exploitation of the system, we also have health personnel who manage to extract and exploit all manner of bribes from unsuspecting members of the public who find themselves in hospitals.
Indeed, we have on record several instances where health personnel charge patients fees and bribes, and otherwise seek to extort funds from members of the public unfortunate enough to need medical care at various hospitals.
We believe that since healthcare borders on life and death, it is necessary that all effort is made to root out corruption at health centres with great brutality. People who visit hospitals with ailments, should not be blackmailed by the very people charged with ensuring their care.
All effort should be made to root out this unholy canker, to ensure the safety of lives.
