Immigration Service registers children under NHIS
The Winneba District Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) is undertaking a three-year campaign in the Effutu Municipality in the Central Region aimed at combating the trafficking of children for labour exploitation.
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As part of the programme, the service has undertaken a free biometric registration of 300 underprivileged children under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The beneficiary children are from the Adansie, Ponkor Ekyire, Mburumbumu, Penkye, Yenpemso, Ayipe and Alata Kokodwo communities in Winneba.
It was sponsored by the Immigration Service, the Effutu Municipal Assembly and other benevolent individuals.
Purpose
The Winneba District Commander of the GIS, Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) Mrs Mary Lois Amo-Richmond, told the Daily Graphic that the GIS conducted a house-to-house campaign to sensitise the people to child trafficking in some communities in Winneba.
She noted that during the campaign, it came to light that parents sold their children for between GH¢50 to GH¢200 to the traffickers for two to five years.
She explained that the children were trafficked to Yeji, Kpando, Nigeria, Liberia and the Gambia to work as house helps and female porters.
She added that during their numerous visits to the various homes, they realised that some children were also sick but their parents could not take them to the hospital to receive medical care because of financial constraints.
She explained that the parents of such children gave unprescribed medicines and local concoctions, which worsened their health conditions.
She stressed that the situation moved them to undertake the free health insurance registration exercise to enable underprivileged children to receive proper medical care.
Mrs Amo-Richmond mentioned that the exercise would relief the needy parents. “The families now have hope to access free medical care for their children,” she stated.
She assured the people that when funds are available, more less privileged children would benefit from the exercise as a means of protecting the rights of such children.