Accra — It is now three years since the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was introduced.

The scheme was set up in line with Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy to provide affordable and an accessible health delivery service to all Ghanaians, especially the poor.

Due to NHIS's importance to the socio-economic development of the country, it was backed by an Act of Parliament. This was necessary in order not to give it any political, ethnic or regional colouration, since sickness has no colour and is no respecter of persons

But three years on, this laudable scheme has been given all sorts of political and ethnic definitions to the extent that, the very vulnerable in society who cannot afford the cost of health services are those who have failed to take advantage of it.

Research shows that about 18 percent of the Ghanaian population will need some form of health care every year and out of this, only 20 percent can pay their health expenses. This means that about 80 percent of all Ghanaians who fall sick cannot pay their health expenses.

This explains why the NHIS has been designed as a community-based health insurance scheme, so that every member of a community will contribute towards the health care of the community. Since the scheme covers more than 80 percent of all the diseases one is likely to contract, it makes sense that average Ghanaians should set aside the yearly contributions towards the health needs of their families.

But how else can one explain the failure of the scheme to successfully take off in some regions, districts and communities? As stated earlier, partisan politics is to blame for the failure of some people to register with the scheme. To put it bluntly, the NHIS does not belong to the government of the day, though they are implementing it. It is a national programme, which any well meaning politician should encourage.

The second problem with the implementation of the NHIS has to do with management inefficiency, which has unfortunately become a Ghanaian problem. Those in charge of administering the scheme must have known by now that the methodology used in the design and administration of the cards is flawed. This explains why many people who registered over year ago are yet to receive their cards.

Equally disturbing is the ungodly attitude of doctors and nurses turning away patients who attend hospital with NHIS cards, while attending to those willing to go the outmoded 'cash and carry' way. To these nurses and doctors, money comes first, even if it means people dying, and such stories of neglect and inhuman treatment in hospitals across the country abound.

In short, there are many good schemes, whether in the past or present that could have benefited the ordinary Ghanaian, but the public officials or politicians charged with implementing them always put their personal interest first. The NHIS is one of them.