The Peoples progressive Party (PPP) has criticised President John Mahama's decision to use Ghana's oil revenue as the backbone of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should he win a second term as president.
President Mahama on Tuesday, during the presentation of highlights of the 2016 National Democratic congress (NDC) manifesto at the Banquet Hall of the State House, promised to spend a percentage of the petroleum revenue to fund the NHIS in his second term.
This he said, would “prolong the life of the scheme [combined] with the introduction of more computerisation to make it more efficientâ€Â
But according to the PPP's Policy Advisor, Kofi Asamoah Siaw, President Mahama's move would be "a wrong investment" since it would be better spent on rolling out free compulsory education for children from the kindergarten to second-cycle level.
Speaking on Asempa FM's political talk show, Ekosii Sen, on Thursday, he said over 60 percent of the diseases NHIS holders suffer are preventable and would be prudent for the government to concentrate on fighting diseases by prevention rather than cure.
This approach, he stated, would ease the financial burden on the NHIS as a far lower number of people would access the facility making it possible for the oil revenue to be spent on education.
In any case, "well-educated people do not contract some diseases because they have knowledge about them", he argued.