Review free healthcare policy under NHIS to cover people above 60 years — Lecturer

Policymakers have been called upon to review the free healthcare policy for persons aged 70 and above under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to 60 years and above to enable more older adults to benefit from the scheme before they die.

A lecturer at the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Dr Priscilla Yeye Adumoah Attafuah, who made the call, explained that since the retirement age in Ghana was 60 years and life expectancy of Ghanaians was 64 years, it was incumbent on the state to consider doing things that would favour people aged 60 and above.

She also appealed that chronic conditions that older adults were prone to should be covered by the NHIS, pointing out that presently, most of what the scheme covered for older adults were minor conditions.

"We agree that the NHIS has taken a lot from our pockets but we urge that as a nation, we should be able to do more for our older adults. Policymakers can go back to the drawing table and make some adjustments so that our older adults can enjoy.

“We should also not forget that we aim to grow old so we should make things better for them so that when we get there, things will also be better for us," she said.

Day of Older Persons

Dr Attafuah was speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic ahead of International Day of Older Persons, which was observed globally on October 1 on the theme:

Aging with Dignity: The importance of strengthening care and support systems for older persons worldwide".

On December 14, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons.

The number of older people defined by the UN as those aged 65 or older tripled from around 260 million in 1980 to 761 million in 2021. Between 2021 and 2050, the global share of the older population is projected to increase from less than 10 per cent to around 17 per cent.

The UN says as populations age, the demand for comprehensive health care, care and social support services grows substantially, particularly for older persons with conditions such as dementia, hence the theme for this year's commemoration.

Ageing population

Dr Attafuah, who is also the Executive Director of Geriatric Hub, a non-governmental organisation that was launched yesterday to provide care and support for the aged, said various studies done and current statistics showed that Ghana's population was ageing; unfortunately the aged were not well catered for in Ghana.

For instance, she said, the structures the first president of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, put in place for older adults were the same being used, with no additions made to them.

She said at the society level, community centres, where hitherto older adults could go to chat and play games such as ludo and draughts, had now been taken over by animals.

 At the family level, especially for those in the cities, she said family support for older adults was minimal, as most of them were either left on their own or with the househelp who might be clueless about how to take care of them.

She said although Ghana had a welcoming behaviour towards old adults - which was a good thing - its patient satisfaction rate at health facilities for older adults was very low.

"When you go to most health facilities outside Ghana, specifically in Europe, they have specialists who take care of older adults but here in Ghana, specialists whom we call geriatric specialists, geriatric specialist nurses, doctors, among others, we don't have.

“So we use general nurses and general professionals to take care of older adults. So if we can have a standalone course as geriatric care specialists who would take care of older adults, it would help,” she added.

Queues

Expressing concern about the long queues older adults have to join at health facilities while seeking care, she called on health facilities to separate older adults from younger people seeking health care in their facilities.

She explained that if they were able to do the segmentation, it would improve the care provided to older adults, adding that it would improve their quality of life, as well as the services that were given them.

 Touching on the theme, Dr Attafuah said the fact that a person was ageing did not mean he or she was incapable of taking decisions, highlighting the need for society to collaborate with them in making decisions.

"We want the nation to see older adults as custodians of history and people with vast experience who can guide and shape our future. Respect these people, respect their wisdom, experience and wealth of history that they have and they are ready to share with us. It allows them to feel valued and they see themselves as being purposeful," she said.