By Emmanuel Kutara
The Forum of CEOs of State Social Health Insurance Agencies (SSHIA) has reported a notable achievement in the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), disclosing that within just five years of its establishment, 50 per cent of citizens are now enrolled in the scheme.
Dr Simeon Onyemaechi Chairman, Forum of CEOs of SSHIAs in Nigeria, stated this during the forum’s first quarter review meeting in 2024, in Abuja.
He said the enrollment rate signifies substantial progress in expanding health insurance coverage and underscores the effectiveness of the National Health Insurance Agency (NHIA) in reaching and enrolling a significant portion of the population.
He said that the SSHIS, introduced by the Nigerian government, was designed to address the long-standing issue of limited healthcare access for a significant portion of the population.
He said that these state-level insurance programmes aimed to provide comprehensive health coverage to both formal and informal sector workers, including the most vulnerable groups.
“Since the implementation, the SSHIS have witnessed an exponential increase in enrollment, with over 8 million Nigerians now benefiting from improved access to healthcare services.
“The schemes cover a wide range of medical services, including hospitalization, outpatient care, preventive care, and essential medications,” he said.
The success of the SSHIS, he said can be attributed to several factors.
“Firstly, the affordability of these schemes has made them accessible to a larger portion of the population, breaking down financial barriers to healthcare.
“Additionally, the comprehensive coverage provided by the schemes has instilled a sense of security among Nigerians, encouraging them to enrol and utilize the available services,” he said.
The Acting Executive Secretary, Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme(RIVCHPP), Dr Vetty Agala, highlighted the need for awareness creation.
Dr. Agala said that the state had the support of the governor who was people-oriented, ready to make sure that the citizens of the state go into the hinterland to ensure everyone was covered, especially the vulnerable population.
“Our governor is ready to ensure that our equity plan and our informal sector plan are top-notch while we deal with organised labour and ensure that they key in
“We are going to be working with the experience of the other 35 states and the FCT and ensure that we learn from their mistakes hoping we do not start from ground zero.
The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Health Management Agency, Dr Emmanuella Zamba, said that the major pillars that make the state successful were ensuring that they get the formal sector involved and also ensuring they have programmes for vulnerable people.
D. Zamba said that the priority was that the state needed to bring in the formal sector that helped the state risk pool and gave them leverage to move out to involve others.
“We have enjoyed political goodwill our governor’s priority is social welfare. We have his support in ensuring that the equity fund is released and reaches vulnerable people.
“We also went a step further to include public awareness, getting people to contribute to insurance information of philanthropy even among politicians, to come on board to support people in their constituency and pay for them.”
EMMANUEL KUTARA