The Vice President, Dr. Mahamud Bawumia has announced that treatments for childhood cancers, as well as the cost of Hydroxyurea, an essential drug for the treatment of sickle cell anaemia, are now covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
“We have started with four cancers amongst children for now but we are determined to expand in due course. As we know, incremental improvement is always the way and exponential impact should not be compromised when it comes to healthcare.
Announcing this yesterday, August 25 2022, in Accra, Bawumia said reimbursement of childhood cancers, and plans are well underway to add treatment for other types of cancer to the list of conditions covered by NHIS.
“Our children’s present and future can only be secured if all the factors that threaten their existence and quality of life are eliminated. We are determined to make it happen and we should not relent,” he said.
According to him, in many developing countries, cancer is on the rise and has consequent effect on economies.
“A diagnosis of cancer often appears to be a death sentence, affecting not just the subject but the rest of the family and entire community, unless well-structured and well-resourced interventions are at play to curb the burden,” he added.
He added that: “countries have attempted to curb it, the perception of acutely exorbitant costs of management have meant that many under-resourced countries have often avoided opening the Pandora’s Box for fear of being unable to manage those costs. Childhood cancers in particular have shown significant success rates in achieving desired management outcomes and often at manageable costs.
“I am glad that we, as a nation, are putting our children first and protecting them and their dreams. Sometimes it is good to look at the value of investments and not just the cost.”
Dr. Bawumia urged all stakeholders to contribute resources to ensure the program’s success and sustainability, noting that “For most things to be sustained funding is required: good funding streams enable projects to be sustained and this is same in childhood cancers and other disease areas. It requires us to be collectively innovative in proffering solutions and investing in it and all other factors that will ensure the best outcomes.”
“For a health project such as this great childhood cancer services to continue, all stakeholders need to bring their resources to the table – expertise, awareness creation, early detection, treatment etc should be made available. The successful outcomes of provision of these is what will keep things sustained. Seeing that our children are being diagnosed early and treated and recovering will certainly encourage the NHIA and all other partners to continue to fund the services. We all have a role to play,” he stressed.
Emphasising on the importance of technology, effective collaboration and data in health management, Dr Bawumia noted that there are multiple players in healthcare that require data for valuable investments, with health data actually generating income for some countries.
“Government is also showing leadership and keen commitment to addressing geographical access limitations through Agenda 111 and we are keen to drive this and make it reality. In these facilities that will be set up, we will be looking at providing all relevant and priority services and will look at how we could also aid improved cancer control including childhood cancers in Ghana,” he added.
Vice President Bawumia commended the First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the minister and ministry of health, the board chair of NHIA and his team, the CEO of NHIA, World Child Cancer, Roche and all collaborators for helping to achieve this life saving initiative.
“What we have achieved here is no mean feat and we should not underestimate it,” he concluded.
