The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Peace and Love Hospitals Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, has made a passionate appeal to the authorities of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to pay service providers’ claims in time to sustain them in the health industry.
This, according to her, will afford the service providers to continue offer services by procuring more drugs so that the most vulnerable in society can benefit, especially breast cancer patients.
Dr. Mrs. Wiafe Addai, who is also the President of Breast Care International (BCI), made the appeal at the premises of Peace and Love Hospital in Kumasi on Wednesday June 6, 2019, when Henry Djaba Foundation, an NGO, met with the Peace and Love Survivors Association (PALSA).
PALSA is made up of members who have survived the breast cancer disease, with some, surviving the disease between ten and thirty-four years.
The Foundation, founded by the former Gender, Children and Social protection, Hon. Otiko Afisa Djaba, and named after her father, aims at empowering the vulnerable, People living With Disabilities (PWDs) in the society women, children and assist them access good health care, education, through social live empowerment.
Dr. Mrs. Wiafe Addai, also the Chairperson of Ghana Cancer Board, said the breast cancer disease is curable when detected early and a prompt action is taken, but it depends on the availability of funds to secure drugs and other equipments for the treatment.
“The NHIS authorities should make available our claims in time so that we can get money to buy drugs to offer services we need to offer to women to treat breast cancer patients” she added.
She is also called on the NHIS to cover a comprehensive breast cancer care service for women as most of the patients cannot afford the expensive cost of the treatments, a situation, she complained, makes the fight against the breast cancer difficult.
“It’s very expensive in treating the breasts cancer disease, costing GHC5, 000, minimum, to treat an early stage breast cancer. How many women can afford this outright, especially those in the rural communities, where the disease’s prevalence is high?” the President elect for the African Organization for Training and Research in Cancer (AORTIC) quizzes.
Henry Djaba Foundation
The founder of the Henry Djaba Foundation, Hon. Otiko Afisa Djaba, in an interaction with the PALSA members, assured them of securing start up capitals through the Micro Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to enable them venture into commercial activities to improve upon their lives.
The host of television talk show program, ‘Let’s Talk Ability’, said she would his foundation to appeal to the public to assist the members start lives again, after spending all their money in treating breast cancer disease.
“I have written to the MASLOC and the Ministry of Business Development to assist you with some credit facilities so that you will start your own businesses to keep you active and look after yourselves and your families,” she assured.
She also made an appeal to the government to provide mammogram (an X-ray machine used to detect a lump in the breast) equipments at the rural areas to detect breast cancer where women can go for early detection, to save more women lives.
Source: otecfmghana.com/Francis Appiah
