By  Sola Ogundipe
THE Nigerian Medical Association , NMA says the impact of the .National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, on efforts aimed at reducing reducing maternal and child mortality in the country has been positive.

President of the NMA, Dr. Omede Idris, who led a  five-man delegation on a  courtesy visit to the  Executive Secretary of the Scheme in Abuja, however called for  scaling up of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, MNCH, Project  to cover the36 States, noting that significant success has been recorded by the project as indicated by recent assessment.

Proffering ways of speeding up healthcare coverage, Idris encouraged NHIS to fasttrack the drive in reaching out to States, stressing that the second tier of government has the capacity to fund healthcare.

Idris called for immediate implementation of the community insurance programme, insisting the programme had  potential to change the landscape of  healthcare delivery in the country.

Urging NHIS to deepen its regulatory roles, he called for stricter monitoring of Health Maintenance Organisations, HMOs, noting that there are numerous complaints regarding  payment of capitation and handling of referrals and argued for a reconsideration of the NHIS Exclusion List with a view to expanding the range of conditions for coverage under the Scheme.

Responding, the Executive Secretary, NHIS, Dr. Waziri Dogo Muhammad observed that the numerous calls by various segments of the Nigerian society is a strong indication of the success recorded by the Scheme.

Dogo Muhammad recalled that at inception scepticism trailed the Scheme, noting that NHIS’ blueprint for implementation of the Community programme was being fine-tuned by the Scheme’s Governing Council, which  had directed a nationwide  audit of Mutual Health Associations, MHAs, preparatory to implementation of the community programme,

He stated that expansion into the informal sector is critical to the overall success of the Scheme, which would be assessed by the level of implementation in the informal sector.