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Mr. Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister has entreated managers and staff of the National Health Insurance Scheme to be disciplined and work hard to make government achieve its dream of making the National Health Insurance premium a "one touch" payment for its clients to enjoy quality healthcare delivery. He urged the managers to intensify public education to encourage the registration of clients. They should also collaborate effectively with service providers in the processing of claims through the computerized network, to ensure prompt and regular payments. Mr. Khalid was addressing regional managers and staff of the National Health Insurance Scheme at a Regional Strategic Management seminar in Wa on Wednesday. The seminar would provide the platform for major stakeholders in the health insurance industry the opportunity to review, assess and chart the way forward for the efficient and effective implementation of the health insurance scheme in the country. It was on the theme: "Delivery on the National Health Insurance Scheme promise" Mr. Khalid urged the managers to fashion out checks and balances that would ensure that referrals made were right and not perpetuated to increase internal generated fund to the detriment of the scheme. He advised managers of the scheme to look at the peculiar capacity building needs of their staff and provide them with the necessary training to upgrade their skills for effectively running of the scheme, especially in the area of information and communication technology. He said government recognizes the important role healthcare play in the socio-economic development of the country and was therefore working relentlessly to ensure that healthcare was made affordable and accessible to the people. Mr. Khalid appealed to municipal and district assemblies as well as traditional and opinion leaders in the region to take more interest in the operations of the scheme in their respective areas through supervision and monitoring. Dr. Nicholas A. Tweneboa, a Director of Operations at the National Health Insurance Authority, said the forum was to provide the opportunity for district managers of National Health Insurance Scheme to review their activities in the past year and align their plans to the current strategic direction of the NHIS. He said series of such forums would be organised for staff throughout the country, and it is expected that a draft programme of work would be adopted to guide the activities of the scheme for the rest of the year, and for 2010 and 2012.