Accra,- Dr Mrs Angela Dwamena Aboagye, Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Ghana, has said that charges with medical reports for the prosecution of gender-based violence was a hinderance to the process.
She said the situation had not helped in dealing with the fight against gender-based violence.
Dr Dwamena Aboagye in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, therefore called on the Ministers of Health and Gender, Children and Social Protection to find a way of including bills for medical reports into the NHIS.
She said that if that is achieved, it would help with the fight domestic violence.
“The two ministers should sit down and find a way of resolving this issue and see to its implementation,” she said.
The Ark Foundation Boss, said that because some victims of domestic violence are unable to pay for the medical reports, the case do not travel far thereby emboldening the perpetrators who commit them.
The Ark Foundation is a non-profit, Christian Mission organization based in Ghana, West Africa. Its primary purpose is to provide compassionate care for the vulnerable, in particular, women and children from a Christian perspective. It also engages in Social Action initiatives to give voice to issues of vulnerability and distress.
Quoting the Section Eight of the gender-based violence act, Dr Dwamena Aboagye, said, the act made provisions for victims to be treated free of charge but that was not being implemented.
Victims of domestic violence are required to pay medical bills, a situation, which denies them access to justice and the fight against gender-based violence.
She said, the Ghana Medical Association allows for doctors to charge some amount when issuing medical reports.
The amount, she explained is used by the doctors to cater for their transportation when the need arises for them to testify in court.
Unfortunately, the practice, Mrs Dwamena Aboagye said, was affecting the fight against Domestic Violence because medical report forms were crucial evidential materials in court and most victims were unable to afford the fees.
She said the bills for medical reports of victims of gender-based violence should to be absorbed by the NHIS.
Source: Ghana News Agency
Add Comment