The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has announced that breast cancer screening has been incorporated into its benefits package under the newly introduced Free Primary Healthcare (FPHC) policy, in a move aimed at strengthening preventive healthcare in Ghana.
The disclosure was made by the NHIA’s Director of Operations, Ms Miriam Musah, during a courtesy call by the Ghana Cancer ImPACT Review Mission Team at the Authority’s head office in Accra on Wednesday. The visiting delegation, made up of national and international cancer experts, engaged the Authority on strategies to enhance cancer planning, control and treatment nationwide.
In a statement shared on Facebook, Ms Musah explained that the FPHC reform is designed to prioritise preventive and promotive healthcare, backed by a dedicated funding mechanism.
“What the NHIA is doing through the new reform that we have, which is FPHC, is to define a preventive and promotive package for healthcare services and to create a funding or budget line for it,” she said.
The Authority also signalled ongoing efforts to improve access to cancer treatment through a review of tariffs. The Director of the Claims Processing Centre, Dr Abigail Derkyi-Kwarteng, indicated that while chemotherapy services are already covered, tariffs for radiotherapy — previously considered inadequate — have been revised upwards by about 120 per cent and are awaiting implementation.
Providing further details on cancer care coverage, the NHIA’s Deputy Director for Strategic Health Purchasing, Mrs Eunice Nkrumah, said the Scheme currently supports treatment for several cancers, including cervical and breast cancer, through services such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She added that prostate cancer is under assessment for possible inclusion.
Mrs Nkrumah also highlighted support for paediatric oncology, noting that treatment for four childhood cancers — Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, Burkitt Lymphoma, Retinoblastoma, and Wilms Tumour — is already covered under the Scheme.
The ImPACT Mission Programme Officer, Alfred Karagu, said the team’s visit forms part of broader efforts to strengthen health systems, particularly in cancer care, both in Ghana and globally.
“We are here to see how we can strengthen the health system, especially in the area of cancer care and treatment,” he stated.
The Ghana Cancer ImPACT Review Mission Team commended the NHIA for expanding access to cancer services and expressed optimism about the impact of the revised tariffs once implemented.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh