Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) have been working closely with the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service to ensure family planning services are included in the forthcoming revision of the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Currently the legislation dictates that subscribers to the scheme can access free counselling for family planning, but have to pay for their chosen method of contraception.

The legislation is up for review and the Minister of Health has pledged to debate the issue in parliament, understanding that the development benefits and long term cost savings of including family planning will outweigh the initial cost of extending the coverage of the scheme.

This briefing paper was produced by request of the Health Minister to support his forthcoming debate in parliament on the issue.