‘Health insurance scheme to cover Nigeria in 2015’

The Community Based Social Health Insurance Scheme will cover the entire country by 2015, the acting National Health Insurance Scheme Executive Secretary of the NHIS, Dr. Abdulrahman Sambo, has said.
He said this in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, in Auchi, Edo State, on Saturday during the inauguration of CBSHIS jointly put together with Auchi Allied Association Mutual Health Scheme.
Sambo said, “By 2015, we intend to cover the entire country; we have identified 110 communities across the country and there are about 100 others that have approached us.”
While challenging the state and local governments to invest in the lives of the poor and the vulnerable, Sambo said, “The scheme is contributory in which individuals are expected to make regular financial contributions into a pool.”
According to him, there will be subsidy targeted at those individuals who don’t have money and cannot afford the contribution.
“We actually extended it countrywide to state governments. This is a community affair and it is N150 per head. So, it is up to the LGs to know the number of people they can pay for. The more money we get, the more people will key into the programme.”
Also speaking, the Otaru of Auchi Kingdom, Aliru Momoh, challenged politicians to invest more on community healthcare to reduce the high rate of maternal and child mortality in the country.
He said, “Primary healthcare is a good scheme for politicians because anybody that wants the votes of the electorate must be willing to provide healthcare for the people. This explains why politicians should key into community healthcare.
“Insurance schemes for health is a primary duty for everybody, especially politicians and it is a priority for advancing the country. This scheme will prevent cases of communicable disease, and also in the reduction of maternal and child mortality.”
While calling on Auchi community to take advantage of the scheme in order to prevent communicable and non communicable diseases, the monarch described the scheme as people-oriented and a symbol of excellence.
Momoh said, “What the NHIS is doing is laudable; it is a symbol of excellence in government’s policies. Meeting the health needs of a people is paramount to all, makes this scheme commendable.”