From Bernard Quanson
Mr. Kwaku Agyemang Manu, Minister of Health, has called on the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), to continue to collaborate with the government through the Ministry of Health to provide quality Healthcare to the masses, especially the vulnerable in society.
He said the government was working to improve the Health Sector and to provide equitable Health services for all.
The Minister was Speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the 50th Anniversary celebration of CHAG on the theme: Fifty Years of Christian Health Services Delivery: Improving and Sustaining Innovations, at the Pentecost Convention Centre, Millennium City, near Gomoa Nyanyano.
Mr. Agyeman Manu, noted that the government was making efforts to look at more innovative ways to address the Health Sector problems and also to build strong partnerships to develop the Health Sector.
He said CHAG had contributed immensely to the health sector, especially in the rural areas, stressing that they contribute about 29 percent of inpatient services and 20 percent of outpatient services, making them a powerful force to reckon with in the Health Sector.
It was in this vein, that he said, the government has to team up with CHAG to promote sustainable Health delivery in the country.
The Minister said both the government and CHAG have common problems with the withdrawal of aid by foreign partners, thereby making funding very difficult. Hence, there was the need to manage the limited resources available to the health sector judiciously.
He stated that it was the President’s intention to ensure that Ghana grows financially to become independent and solve its problems.
Mr. Agyemang Manu stressed that the nation has to employ workers with its own inadequate Internally Generated Funds (IGF), which was very difficult since the law does not allow casual workers to be on the job for more than six months. According to him, after six months, casual workers are to be made permanent workers, raising a new challenge regarding how to generate funds to pay them.
He further stated that the government was keen on ensuring that the National Health Insurance is restructured to address the funding of health and make it more efficient.
