Tour of duty: NHIS tours round the Country in 30 days

R-L Assistant Manager NHIS Anambra State Office Awka, Obetta Remigius;  Nwafor  Chukwuemeka, Iwenofu Frances , all of NHIS Anambra State Office during the NHIS market storm at the Onitsha main market over the weekend.

Center;  The Head Contribution Management, NHIS Kaduna Zonal office, Nasiru Yakubu ;,  The NHIS brand ambassadors during  the NHIS Road show and market storm in Kaduna .

R-L NHIS Bauchi State Coordinator; Sani Garba Affa,; NHIS Brand  Ambassador ;Agnes Michael in an interview  during the recently concluded NHIS Road show in Bauchi.

Emeka Ibemere

Superstition is opposite of religion. If you doubt it, ask those who believed it. Many Nigerians have over the years lived on this precept, to the detriment of their health and other well-beings. ‘Fetish and spiritual attacks’ are usually the major focus when untimely death occurs in Nigeria, especially when it happened suddenly.

But the fact still remains that when these deaths are put under medical tests, a different story is told. Many cases of autopsy taken have shown that some of these deaths that are usually blamed on the unknown spirits actually have known causes that most times turn out to be medical case. 

It was a worthwhile measure, taken for the wellbeing of every Nigerian, to ensure collective healthcare for all that the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, tour the nooks and crannies of the entire six geo-political zones to sensitize the masses on their new programme. 

To take this message home to as many Nigerians as possible, NHIS planned a sensitization campaign programme designed to increase mass awareness on the new programs.

Recently, the sensitization train berthed in Lagos from where it moved on to Ibadan, then to the South Eastern parts of the country that includes Asaba, Onitsha and Enugu, leaving in its wake commendation from city dwellers from different parts of the city. 

The experiential campaign which featured a road-show and market storm in Lagos, rocked most parts of the cities, taking off from Ikeja and ending with a village square meeting at Tabon-Tabon community in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State, where community leaders were educated on how to register and benefit from NHIS programs.

For this, NHIS introduced a new plan that would include even the commonest man in the street. Prior to now, it was only compulsory   to Civil Servants and people working for government agencies.

With its many platforms, that include National Mobile Health Insurance Programme, NMHIP, Public Primary Schools Health Insurance Programme, PPSHIP, Tertiary Institution Social Health Insurance Programme, TISHIP, and Community Based Social Health Insurance Programme, CBSHIP, the Scheme opened up wide, avenues for better healthcare provision for the populace. 

According to the NHIS, these programmes have a number of benefits in common, but equally have unique benefits of their own depending on which it is meant for. Some of the benefits include: Access to pediatric/antenatal care, minor surgeries, treatment for malaria, typhoid and minor infections, HIV/AIDS and STD Management, eye care, Family Planning and much more. 

The scheme also comes with freedom for enrollees to choose their health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Healthcare providers from over 8000 practitioners in Nigeria. Enrollees have unlimited number of visits to the hospitals for treatments, uncapped and unlimited health cover value.

Addressing stakeholders at the Lagos event, the NHIS Lagos State Coordinator, Mrs. Evelyn Olokun represented by Senior Manager, Chika Amahalu told the large audience that attended the meeting the numerous NHIS programs, including those offering direct benefits to people in the communities for them to apply for. 

“The Community based Program is the one that will serve the community people more. The good thing about this is that the Community chooses the hospital to use, and manage their contributions by themselves through a 7-man Board of Trustees that will be formed to oversee the program for the community. And because the money is collectively paid, it runs into a “pool” of funds that will enhance the capacity of the community to take advantage of the NHIS Community-Based Social Insurance Program”.

Answering questions on the possibility that the pool of fund may not be large enough to cover all the healthcare needs of the community, Mrs Amahalu explained that all enrollees are not likely to get ill at the same time. This means that the funds will be available at every given time to take care of those who require treatment at such times.

This particular program, according to her, equally covers pregnant women and children under the age of five and are to benefit free of charge for a period of three years, beginning from the commencement of the programme in any community.

The Ibadan Meeting was not much different from the Lagos State; for in its message to Ibadan dwellers and community leaders also captures the mood of the masses.

The Oyo State Coordinator, Mr Simon Adeniji posits that the health insurance program was like subsidized health care services, because the government would be providing adequate support to anybody under this platform. According to him, this was to say that every enrollee would have the privilege to benefit from the scheme through access to free health care services, such as treatment, drugs, and much more.

The Matron of the Odinjo Area Primary Health Center, Mrs Omobolaji Salami, stated the importance of NHIS to the community, she emphasized how she feels at the turn up of enrollees that are supposed to be under the platform.

In his own comments on the program, the Head of Media and Public Relations of NHIS, Ayo Osinlu, reiterated the position of the Scheme in the new dispensation.

“The new management of NHIS under the leadership of Dr. Femi Thomas is determined to realign and deepen the capacity of the Scheme to make it a socially responsible and responsive institution, able and ready to provide rapid access to quality, affordable and available health care for all categories of Nigerians,” Osinlu declared.

The 8-city experiential campaign train which takes the form of Village Square Meetings, Road-Shows and Market-Storms, was designed to go round all the six geo-political zones of the Country, and had in a couple of weeks, went through Asaba with a road-show and market-storm, where the Delta State Coordinator, Mr Chigozie Egwuonu joined the train in spreading the gospel of NHIS.

In Onitsha, the train moved with awe in a market-storm fashion and stopped at the popular Main Market Onitsha. There, with the help and support of the Innocent Okwudiegwu-led Onitsha Market Amalgamated Traders Association, OMATA, the activation program enjoyed the greatest success.

The turnout at the Main Market that prides itself as the biggest market in West Africa was impressive. So, also was the commendation from traders in the market. Okechukwu Onyike, a trader in the market was happy that such good news was brought home to those in the Eastern side as well. He said.

“It is good we were not marginalized as usual. At least now that we know of this, it will save us the hazard of quack doctors and unreasonable hospital bills. I hope every good thing in the country will be getting to us as this one did”. The NHIS officials who came all the way from Awka were ever present to enlighten people more on some of the programmes.

The program train later moved to Enugu on another road-show in Enugu, capital where the Zonal Coordinator, Mrs Getrude Mma Ossi and the State Coordinator, Mrs Ahunma Ochor were on hand to lend their support to the marketing team. Both went up to the stand to deliver the good message of NHIS.

 “The National Health Insurance Scheme is not just for the benefit of civil servants alone, now all and sundry have been given the right  to enjoy health care at an affordable rate” Said Mrs Ochor. “All you need is dial the code that is the registration code from your network, and answer the prompt questions that will follow. At the payment of the charge through your network providers, you will be registered to the National Mobile Health Insurance Programme(NMHIP)and will receive an NHIS MTS ID Number, this is the number you use for your identification in the NHIS programme,” said Mrs Ossi.

However, despite the air of insecurity in the Northern part of the country, the programme train continued to the Northern States and screeched to a halt at Bauchi.

At Bauchi, the people were very friendly and the message was delivered to them as usual before the team drove down to Kaduna. The road-show in Kaduna was done to include both the Southern and the Northern Kaduna. All testified to the good wind that blew all things, good, towards a healthier Kaduna state.

The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Kaduna Chapter commended the management of NHIS for its innovative approach to making health care affordable to all Nigerians. Addressing a large crowd of commuters and transporters at the popular Kawo -park in Kaduna, the Chairman of the Kawo NURTW, Ahaji Adamu Mohammed Abaji, showered encomiums on NHIS’s scheme for its commitment to quality healthcare for the downtrodden.

He said. “We are happy to hear the good news from NHIS today. In the past we have always thought that the government is deceiving us with what they are doing, most of us never believe in the programme. But with what we are witnessing in Kaduna today, we would have a change of mind. We are going to set in motion necessary machineries that will ensure that all our members across Kaduna State are registered with the scheme. This is a good development for our people”.  

Speaking earlier, the Head Contribution Management, NHIS Kaduna Zonal office, Nasiru Yakubu reiterated the determination of the scheme to make healthcare affordable to all Nigerians, especially the less-privileged, artisans and members of the informal sector.

“The new management of NHIS is poised and positioned to register a minimum of 30 million lives by the end of 2015. This is our mandate and we are committed to not only achieving this goal, but to surpass the 30 million target. We are not going to leave any stone unturned. That is why the NHIS campaign train is in Kaduna today. We urge you to mobilize all your members to get registered,” he concluded.

At Kano State, it was a village square meeting that saw the NHIS officials speaking to the inhabitants of Sabon Gari Kano. The show was spiced up in Abuja with both Road-show and Market-show on the 5^th and 6^th of November, 2014.