Register with NHIS to avoid

Story: Salome Donkor

THE reported cases of some women who are detained in hospitals for the non-payment of their bills after they have been delivered of their babies are really pathetic.
Depending on their conditions, some of them are detained for their inability to pay maternity bills of between GH¢40 and GH¢50.
Some people, however, think that there should be no tears for such women because they needed to plan adequately towards their pregnancy and delivery and that it is those who do not who find themselves in such a mess.
Those who differ from this line of argument contend that irresponsibility on the part of some men who refuse to take care of women after impregnating them is a contributory factor to the problem.
Recently, a Ghana News Agency report said a senior staff midwife at the Central Regional Hospital in Cape Coast, Miss Mary Koomson, appealed to husbands to pay the maternity bills of their wives after the women had been delivered of their babies.
She was quoted to have said in an interview that most often some mothers were detained for long periods in the hospital after delivery because they did not have money to pay their bills.
She said it was sad to see women who had been delivered of their babies on admission at the hospital but no sign of their husbands visiting them to check on the state of health of the mothers and their children.
The situation at the Central Regional Hospital may just be a tip of the iceberg. During a recent visit to the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua as part of her visit to media houses in the New Juaben municipality, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mrs Oboshie Sai Cofie, was reported to have offered to pay the medical bills of nine women who were being kept at the hospital following their inability to foot their medical bills after they had been delivered of their babies.
Although the effort of the minister is laudable, it is equally intriguing considering the fact that the women would have continued to be in ‘detention’ if the Honourable minister had not visited the hospital. What also happens to other women who find themselves in similar conditions in other health institutions in other parts of the country, who may not be saved by a Good Samaritan?.
One may ask about the whereabouts of the husbands of those women or the men who impregnated them and whether they have not registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The situation is really pathetic, because the wish of every mother, after a safe delivery, is to be at home with her child by her side to continue with post-natal care and also being taken care of by an elderly woman, not being “detained” in hospital.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the issue, a social worker, Ms Constance Yeboah, advised women to register with the NHIS to guarantee them health care and save them during emergency situations.
She also advised women to engage in income-generating activities to support the upkeep of their families and not to depend solely on other people, whether they were their husbands or family members, stressing that it was always better for women to be empowered economically.
Ms Yeboah said women needed to take very good care of themselves when they were pregnant and visit antenatal clinics regularly. They also needed to take the medications prescribed for them by doctors and also eat nutritious food to have a safe delivery.
She advised unemployed women, teenage girls, street girls, as well as women who were engaged in menial jobs which earned them very low incomes, to take very good care of themselves and desist from pre-marital sex in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies and their social implications. She said in worst situations, they should use condoms.
Ms Yeboah said apart from the likelihood that the children brought forth by such women might end up on the streets to compound the country’s socio-economic problems, the growth and development of such women might also be affected and their lives disorganised.
When contacted, Mr Dela Ashiagbor, officer in-charge of the Social Welfare of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service said women who report to their office with such problems are advised to register with the NHIS.
He, however said, it is unfortunate that most of them do not know the processes to go through to get registered under the scheme or where to go for the registrations.
He said, such people are therefore counselled and directed to the NHIS offices. He also said the Social Welfare Department and DOVVSU will intensify education on the NHIS at the markets and other public places to get more people well-informed about the scheme.