Research Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr. Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, says the Ghana Medical Trust Fund Bill passed by Parliament aligns almost entirely with the recommendations from the JoyNews Stakeholder Dialogue on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Speaking on PM Express on Tuesday, July 29, the medical doctor described the passage of the bill—also known as the MahamaCares Bill—as a clear outcome of the deliberative process held by JoyNews.
“I assessed the manifestos based on what the dialogue expected,” he said, recalling how he challenged colleagues involved in drafting policy proposals to measure them against the outcomes of the NCD dialogue.
“And I remember that day, while working out—Titus is my friend—I met Titus downstairs with the doctor, and I was laughing at them, and I said, ‘You people have put proposals, but you didn’t test the proposals against what the dialogue said.’”
For Dr. Asiedu, the alignment became evident the moment the bill was passed.
“The first thing I did was to marry the bill against the outcomes of the stakeholder dialogue that multimedia held,” he noted.
He said the dialogue had involved patients, government officials, health professionals, and advocacy groups like his, and that their collective demands had been captured.
He pointed to four specific demands that were met.
“We wanted a ring-fenced funding. Now the government has said 20% of NHIS, so we exactly know where the money is coming from.” To him, that level of clarity was crucial.
“And when you talk about a ring fence, it means it has to go to an entity that technically is out of the reach of government. So a trust fund has been set. That’s another thing that Dialogue asked for. So that has been done.”
He said the management structure was also consistent with demands from the forum. “It had to be managed on behalf of the patient. So a board has been set up. That has been done.”
The final point, he said, was sustainability.
“There is an index to say 20% of NHIS, even though I have a problem with the funding model—and we’ll come to that. But I’m just going by what the dialogue: sustainability.
“So you know that whatever it is, when the NHIS funding is agreed and approved by parliament, 20% of that goes to management of chronic diseases.”
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