Selina Bentoom seeks NHIS coverage for premature baby care

Selina Bentoom, the Founder and Executive Director of the African Foundation for Premature Babies and Maternal Care (AFPNC), is advocating for the expansion of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to include essential neonatal services. Speaking at the 3rd Purple for Prematurity Summit in 2026, she emphasized that the high cost of specialized care for premature infants remains a critical barrier to survival for many families in Ghana. The summit served as a platform to urge the government and stakeholders to treat prematurity as a national health priority.

Bentoom highlighted that the financial burden of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) services often leads to devastating consequences, including the abandonment of infants in hospitals when families cannot settle their bills. By integrating these services into the NHIS, she argued, the state could significantly reduce the financial pressure on parents and improve neonatal survival rates. The call for insurance reform was presented as a necessary step toward ensuring equitable access to life-saving medical interventions for all newborns.

Beyond financial support, the AFPNC leader also proposed an extension of maternity leave specifically for mothers of premature babies. She noted that the current statutory leave period does not account for the additional weeks or months a mother must spend in the hospital or providing specialized care at home. Bentoom encouraged businesses to adopt more flexible, family-friendly policies and called for a shift toward family-centered care that actively involves fathers in the nurturing process of premature infants.

The foundation’s advocacy efforts are supported by a track record of practical intervention, having distributed over 10,000 baskets of essential supplies to families of premature babies to date. As the summit concluded, Bentoom reaffirmed the AFPNC’s commitment to ongoing education and policy advocacy. She maintained that through increased investment in neonatal care and improved social safety nets, Ghana can lead the way in enhancing maternal and newborn health outcomes across the African continent.