The United States Agency for International Development funded Breakthrough Action-Nigeria has undertaken to work towards increasing the enrollment data of citizens into the Ebonyi State Health Insurance scheme.
The commitment emanated from a one-day Stakeholders Consultative Forum by the body in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital.
The forum brought together key health programme officers of the State Ministry of Health; USAID funded partners and other International Development partners working in the State; Community resource persons, including Ward Development Committees, volunteers, Local Government Area supervisors and health focal persons; as well as the media.
The essence of the meeting was to review the mid-year activities of USAID BA-N’s Fiscal Year 23 and suggest work plans for FY24.
Part of the issues that emerged at the meeting was the low turnout of enrollees to the State Health Insurance scheme from both the formal and the informal sectors.
Participants at the forum, among other suggestions, recommended intensified public awareness campaign on the advantages and “modus operandi” of the scheme.
Speaking to newsmen, the State Coordinator of USAID BA-N, Ebonyi Field Office, Chidimma Ukoha-Nwankwo, noted that the organisation does not work in isolation but requires feedbacks and inputs from partners and the State government on areas of needed intervention.
Ukoha-Nwankwo explained that it was the outcome of the appraisal of its activities with the State Government that resulted in recent increase in the number of focus local government area of BA-N’s health interventions in the State from six to 11.
She stated that the USAID BA-N from the outcome of the meeting would, by its next fiscal year, work with the State Health Insurance Agency to create improved demand for health insurance scheme in the State.
She explained: “One of the key things we did in this meeting is to review our Fiscal year 23 activities.
“We also looked at recommendations from the State partner Ministries and other International Development Partners.
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“We work together in synergy to also identify critical areas of health intervention that we need to focus on.
“For next year, looking at what we have done this year, there is a lot of recommendation that came from State Health Insurance Agency.
“The generality of the population is yet to know and understand how it works, so we want to take that up and promote the benefits of citizens having health insurance registration to take care of their health needs whenever they are sick.
“We are going to promote that.
“We are also looking at how we can strengthen the emergency transport system, and how the WDCs can be trained, identifying willing persons in the structure of the WDCs so that they can also serve as ETs focal persons and facilitating the transportation of pregnant women and other patients to the health facilities among others.”
Director of Public Health, Ebonyi State Ministry of Health, Dr. Hyacinth Ebenyi, while declaring the meeting open, praised BA-N for the impact of her interventions in the State.
Ebenyi called on participants to take the forum seriously and be open to put Forward suggestions that would enhance both access to and quality of health services in the State.
USAID BA-N is a Social Behaviour Change and Health Communication Development partner working in Ebonyi State to promote healthy behaviours in the priority areas of maternal, child health, family planning, nutrition Malaria, zoonotic diseases among others.
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