…as over 4000 low-income people set to benefit from scheme    

…PharmAccess urges private sector funding for Nigeria’s health sector

By Gabriel Ewepu

AS grassroots Nigerians yearn for more health care service delivery, the Kwara State Health Insurance Agency, KSHIA, and PharmAccess Foundation, yesterday partnered to implement the Islamic Development Bank funded health scheme called ‘Transform and Innovation Project’.   

This was made known by the Country Director, PharmAccess Foundation, Njide Ndili, while speaking on the initiative, which Ndili said proves the importance of public-private partnership in building Nigeria’s health sector, but requires resource mobilization both locally and internationally.

She further stated that other stakeholders and partners need to synergize in accelerating achievement of Universal Health Coverage, especially for poor and less privileged Nigerians.

The innovative project, tagged ‘Sustainable Business Case for Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria’, is primarily to facilitate and complement the efforts of the Kwara State Government to scale up access to affordable and quality basic healthcare services for all residents of the State, across the 16 Local Government Areas.

The Bank’s grant is for the purpose of addressing demand-side and supply-side challenges of the Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme. It is also to complement the efforts of the Kwara State Government and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, towards improving healthcare coverage for low-income households.

The IsDB-funded project would further enhance the strategic implementation of the Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme and would be utilized for financing the premium of about 4000 low-income population, mobilizing the informal sector population and strengthening the capacity of healthcare providers participating in the scheme.

She said: “We will continue to aggregate resources from partners to enable Kwara State and the other states we support to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

“We are delighted with the IsDB partnership, we encourage other partners to join us and support State Government initiatives to fund health insurance for the poor and indigents so that we can collective achieve UHC by 2030 as a Nation.”

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary, Kwara State Health Insurance Agency, Dr Olubunmi Jetawo-Winter, spoke extensively on the importance of the IsDB Grant towards achieving the Agency’s goal.

Jetawo-Winter also expressed optimism that with the project there will be inclusion of indigent people in the Scheme across the 16 Local Government Areas of the State in the three senatorial districts of the State, and would fast track enrollment of more indigent people into the Scheme, which would also afford them opportunity to have access to quality health care services.  

“The impressive funding support and goodwill the Scheme is receiving revolves around the political will and the passion of our governor, His Excellency, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who is making efforts at ensuring that the Kwara populace, more than ever before, have unlimited access to healthcare services, through the initial investment of the State government in a sustainable social health insurance scheme for its people.”

Also speaking was Director, Health Plans and Digital Innovations, PharmAccess Foundation, Emeka Ajanwachuku, pointed that measures to improve access to affordable quality healthcare cannot be over-emphasized following the cardinal role of Universal Health Coverage.

“Improving access to affordable quality healthcare is essential to attaining the Universal Health Coverage agenda, and the IsDB Grant provides the needed platform to accelerate the program reach in an innovative manner.

“Since the relaunch of the Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme in the last quarter of 2020, over 300,000 people have been registered, of which over 26,000 people are active with the 60 accredited and empanelled healthcare providers enlisted in the Scheme. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Grant is another critical leverage for the Agency to rapidly scale and attain universal health coverage.

“We are enthusiastic that more of these strategic partnerships and interventions would be received to support the implementation of the Kwara Health Insurance Scheme”, Ajanwachuku added.