The Ketu North Municipal Secretariat of the National Health Insurance Scheme in the Volta Region has been adjudged the best-performing district across the country.
The secretariat came top among the 172 districts nationwide after rolling out an exceptional work plan which led to the National Health Insurance Scheme increasing membership, and enhancing service delivery.
The Municipal Director, Pope Yao Yevoo has been sponsored to read a certificate course in Health Policy Analysis at the Graduate School of the University of Ghana Business School, as a prize package for leading his team to attain this feat.
Speaking to Joy News, he said the feat was achieved due to dedication to duty by the workforce in the municipality, who braced all odds to achieve the set targets for the year.
“In the Volta Region, the Ketu North team has the lowest number of staff. Beginning 2023, we had a meeting and motivated ourselves that we should no longer be complaining so we put measures in place, and set metrics for measuring the targets”, he said.
He added that the secretariat established a good collaboration with the social welfare department, intensified school registration, and LEAP registration, collaborated with political actors, assembly members, and chiefs, and intensified education on the mobile renewal and My NHIS app to increase enrollment.
He further indicated that the national recognition motivates the team to deliver to ensure the citizenry continues to enjoy the services of the life-saving scheme, “which enables even the poor to receive the best of healthcare.”
“As a Scheme, this feat is a testament to our extraordinary hard work in 2023. Because among the 11 operational districts in the Volta Region, we have the lowest staff strength. And so, to come topping all districts in Ghana, it is a full package of motivation for us”,he said.
He debunked assertions that the NHIS has collapsed due to mismanagement and hence cannot meet the demands of clients and service providers.
“I will debunk it with facts, data. The truth of the matter is that when I became a manager in 2017, the active membership of the scheme was just around 29,000. Today, becoming the first performing district in the whole of Ghana, we have about 97,000 active members. So this cannot be the case that the scheme is not working”, he said.
He added that service providers in his jurisdiction rose from 22 in 2023 to 25 in June 2024.