By: Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Ghana Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES) has revealed that about 14 million Ghana’s population do not have health insurance coverage.
According to the 2022 first and second quarter reports on food insecurity, multidimensional poverty and labour statistics launched on Thursday, September 1 2022 in Accra by the Ghana Statistical Service, deprivation in health insurance coverage is the largest contributor to multidimensional poverty in both quarters (34.4% in Q2 and 33.6% in Q1).
The Ghana Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annin said “among the indicators for multidimensional poverty, health insurance coverage and improved toilet facility have the highest deprivations”.
*Objectives of AHIES*
The Annual Household Income Expenditure Survey aims to provide nationally and regionally representative disaggregated data on the expenditure, income and living conditions of households in Ghana to support decision-making for development.
The primary objective of AHIES is to improve the measurement of GDP. The secondary objectives are to:
1. Measure monetary and non-monetary poverty;
2. Compute food security:
3. Estimate labour statistics;
4. Identify labour transitions; and
5. Identify households and individuals burdened with multiple socio-economic
challenges (triple burdened households and individuals).
*Background*
The Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES) is the first nationally representative high-frequency household panel survey in Ghana.
The AHIES is being conducted to obtain quarterly and annual data on household final consumption expenditure and a wide scope of demographic, economic and welfare variables including statistics on labour, food security, multi-dimensional poverty and health status for research, policy, and planning.
This publication presents highlights from the first and second quarter food insecurity, multidimensional poverty, and labour statistics reports.
The compilation of these highlights provide a novel opportunity to view socioeconomic disadvantage across the thematic areas, dimensions, and time periods.
It further, for the first time provides information on the populations with intersectional disadvantages.
The highlights provide relevant and timely statistics for Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs); Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs}, Development Partners, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Private Sector, Research and Academia, and the public.
The disaggregated statistics presented provide data to support the implementation and monitoring of the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies, 2017-2024: An Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All and the monitoring of progress towards Sustainable Development Goals 1 to 10.
The report will thus guide research, policy, and planning to identify vulnerable households and individuals, particularly those burdened with multiple socio-economic challenges for the delivery of targeted interventions.