Minister for Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu

The Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, is set to probe Pay or Die documentary conducted by Francisca Enchill of Corruption Watch.

According to him, this will be done by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

The Minister, who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Dormaa West, disclosed this at a press briefing on Wednesday though he did not give specific timelines.

“A joint monitoring team from his ministry together with officials from NHIS will be dispatched to Mamprobi and Maamobi Polyclinic’s to probe the matter. But I must say unauthorised and illegal payments are on the rise in different forms,” he revealed.

The documentary uncovered the rot in service delivery to pregnant women in Ghana’s public hospitals.

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Despite provisions in the National Health Insurance Scheme Act that pregnant women receive free maternal care, some staff of the 37 Military Hospital, Mamprobi Hospital, and Maamobi General Hospital were captured in the 37-minute video charging them fees.

Some pregnant women were left unattended when they were unable to pay.

Meanwhile, the Minister has urged Ghanaians to report such situations to the ministry on time for the appropriate steps to be taken.

“The Ministry has set up a small unit within the PPME directorate; the health intelligence gathering unit commissioned to pick information and investigate illegal payments at the various healthcare facilities for prompt action to be taken,” he stated.

He added: “That is not the only demeanour as they deal with several facilities operating without licenses from HeFRA, licenses for their doctor and nurses from the NMC, Medical and Dental council, Allied Professional councils and all the regulators.”

Listen to the Minister in the audio attached above: