OVER 180,000 PERSONS IN ANAMBRA HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME — DR ONYEMAECHI
REPORTER: CHRIS OBILERI
The Anambra State Governmet says it is working assiduously to ensure people receive quality health care services to meet with World Health Organisation’s objective of Universal Health Coverage by the year 2030.
The Managing Director of the Anambra State Health Insurance Agency (ASHIA), Dr. Simon Onyemaechi, stated this while addressing journalists in Awka, on the occasion of the 2022 World Universal Health Coverage Day.
According to Dr. Onyemaechi, to lay claim to Universal Health Coverage, healthcare must be affordable, accessible, of good quality, equitable and sustainable.
Dr. Onyemaechi noted that the celebration had afforded government the opportunity towards building a prosperous homeland where people could live and work to their full potential without suffering catastrophic health expenditure.
He expressed regret that the people were ignorant of health insurance, stressing that the health insurance culture was still alien in the area.
Dr. Onyemaechi noted that the present administration of Professor Chukwuma Soludo had taken health insurance coverage to a greater height by introducing the Soludo Care to road transport workers, who had become compliant with the payment of their weekly/monthly levy.
He announced that the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) had adjudged the state insurance scheme as the best performing informal sector health scheme in Nigeria.
He declared that over one hundred and eighty thousand persons had enrolled in the scheme, adding that about eight different states had visited the state to understudy the workings of the scheme.
In a speech, a Research Consultant, Mrs. Uche Ezenwaka, explained that access to health insurance and its influence on health-seeking behaviour in Anambra State had increased tremendously.
A civil society activist, Mr. Mike Opia, noted that there had been a collaborative effort between the agency and civil society organizations in the area to create awareness for people to embrace health insurance to improve their healthcare.
The theme for the 2022 Universal Health Coverage is “Build the world we want: a healthy future for all.”
EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU
