‘Pensioners’ welfare scheme in the offing’

The National Pensioners Association (NPA) has commenced a pilot registration of pensioners in all the regions, with a view to fashioning out a medical welfare scheme for them.

As part of the process, a free medical screening is being done for them to identify medical conditions they may have which they may not be aware of.

The scheme will provide funding of up to GH¢4,000 a year for the medical treatment of identified conditions.

The General Secretary of the Association, Mr Edward Ameyibor, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, when the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) presented a 28-seater bus to the association at the Henry Dei’s Pensioners’ Recreational Centre in Accra yesterday.

The Corporate Affairs Manager of SSNIT, Ms Eva Amegashie, who handed over the bus,  said the donation was in line with SSNIT’s corporate social responsibility.

Preventable deaths

Mr Ameyibor explained that the association decided to undertake the project after it realised that a good number of its members were dying from conditions that could be treated, adding that lack of finance had been a pre-disposing factor to a number of those deaths.

“We realised that if we could pool resources, we could achieve something that will ease the burden on our members and stop preventable deaths and so we met and instituted a monthly dues of GH¢4 towards our welfare,” he said.

He said, almost all members of the association supported the idea, culminating in the pilot scheme in all the regions.

He entreated members of the association to remain positive about the chances of  the success of the scheme and urged them to dutifully pay their contributions.

Healthcare

As part of the scheme, he said, the association would enter into partnerships with a number of health institutions where members could access healthcare, knowing that they would be treated with dignity.

He deplored the situation where some health personnel treated older persons who went to hospitals with disdain, saying “there is no disease called old age” stressing that the aged needed to be shown respect.

It was satisfying, he said, that some banks had decided to offer a special dispensation for the aged who patronised their institutions, explaining that some banks had decided to assign a special teller to serve the aged while they sat comfortably in the banking hall.

Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh