A deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Gifty Twum Ampofo, has said the government recognising the importance of access to quality health care for the elderly had collaborated with the National Health Insurance Authority to register for free beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty, (LEAP) on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
She said the ministry was also reviewing the issuance of the EBAN Elderly Welfare Card which would grant the aged 50 per cent rebate on Metro Mass Transit buses.
At a luncheon for elderly people in the Tema Central Constituency last Monday to mark the UN Day for older persons, Mrs Ampofo, therefore, appealed to the aged in the Tema metropolis to take advantage of the policy to access quality health care to improve on their living and health conditions.
Day for the elderly
The UN set aside October 1 every year, in recognition of the roles the elderly have played in their productive stages of life towards the development of society.
To climax the day, the MP for Tema Central, Mr Kofi Brako, hosted over 600 elderly people selected from the 11 electoral areas in his constituency at the VRA Club House to appreciate them.
The gesture, he said, was not only to serve as a platform for interaction with the aged but also to exchange ideas with them and brief them on his work as their representative in parliament.
Mr Brako underlined his determination to do everything he could to make things a bit better for the elderly people, stressing that he would lobby the government to make available the free bus ride for the aged in his constituency.
As part of his plans for the elderly, Mr Brako disclosed that widows and widowers among the aged in his constituency would be offered a special package, including free NHIS registration.
Health talk
The Tema Central Sub-Metro Head of Health Services, Dr Joseph H.K. Odonkor, who delivered a health talk to the participants said ageing came with some complications, including hypertension, diabetes, breast, prostrate, cervical cancers as well as arthritis which was common with old age.
He, therefore, advised the elderly to check their health status regularly for diseases and report suspicious symptoms to trained healthcare professionals for evaluation and appropriate advice.
30 per cent reduction in property rate
The Metropolitan Chief Executive(MCE) for Tema, Mr Felix Nii Mensah Annang-La, said following an appeal by members of the Pensioners Association in Tema, the assembly had constituted a committee to deal with a request for a 30 per cent downward review of property rates charged by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).
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