The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Membership and Regional Operations Acting Director, Mr. Sebastian Alagpulinsa advanced his Directorate’s nationwide working visit to the Upper East Region, where he interfaced with the Regional and Districts management teams. He was accompanied by the Acting Manager, Mr. Bismark Brown and Assistant Manager, Miss Naa-Imwin Wonotuah. Mr. Alagpulinsa commended them for contributing to the Authority’s historic achievement of over 21 million increment of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) active membership in 2025. He attributed the achievement to the nationwide “Operation markets storm” and disclosed Executive Management’s resolution to renew it in 2026 to further boost membership enrollment.

Highlighting current performance, Mr. Alagpulinsa disclosed that as of 15th December 2025, national active membership stood at 22,226,312, representing 65.9% population coverage. He commended staff for this achievement and encouraged them to sustain the momentum. Acknowledging staffing challenges in the Upper East Region, he urged staff to maximize the use of available resources and remain committed to their duties. He further advised management teams at all levels to build and maintain strong working relationships with stakeholders, noting that such partnerships are critical to operational success.

In addition, he reminded district managers to avoid personalizing work-related issues and to always use formal communication channels when reporting operational challenges. Mr. Alagpulinsa tasked all districts in the region to intensify efforts toward achieving UHC in 2026, noting that no district in the Upper East Region had attained UHC as at the end of November 2025.

In a presentation on regional membership performance, he indicated that the region had achieved 53.7% population coverage as of November 2025, with Talensi-Nabdam District identified as the lowest-performing district. He described the situation as unsatisfactory and called for urgent corrective measures.

To improve and sustain performance in 2026, the Acting Director outlined the following strategic interventions:

• Enhanced supervision by the Regional Office using the membership dashboard

• Increased use of YAMMS for group registrations

• Intensification of indigent enrolment

• Increased sensitization on automatic renewal

• Organization of outreach enrolment activities in hard-to-reach and densely populated communities

Speaking on behalf of the Acting Regional Director, Dr. Salifu Kombat, the Acting Regional Operations Manager, Mr. Collins Gado Anafure, expressed gratitude to the MRO Director and his team for the visit. He noted that the engagement had motivated staff and introduced practical strategies to improve regional performance toward achieving UHC.

Mr. Anafure assured management of the region’s commitment to implementing the outlined strategies and improving results. He also highlighted key challenges facing the region, including insecurity in Bawku East, Garu-Tempane, Pusiga and Binduri, inadequate critical staff, and an ageing vehicle fleet.

Concluding the meeting, Mr. Anafure tasked all district management members to immediately begin implementing the outlined strategies, reinforcing the collective resolve to overcome obstacles and achieve Universal Health Coverage in the Upper East Region. The meeting was attended by all Regional Office staff and District Management members.

Source: Rufina Ankwain, Regional PRO – Upper East