Residents of Niger State are now mandated to have a health insurance scheme to access healthcare services in the state.
However, only 40,000 residents have enrolled under the Niger state contributory health scheme.
The governor stated this while receiving a report/presentation of the end of year review and performance of the state’s Primary Healthcare Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The governor, who blamed the low level of patronage of the scheme on lack of adequate awareness, also noted that people are somewhat cynical because they do not have confidence in the system because, when they pay for premium services they don’t get value for their money.
He, however, expressed the hope that when people begin to enjoy the benefits, more people will register, adding that the whole scheme is relatively new to the people, unlike elsewhere in the world where it is fully operational and even mandatory.
The governor expressed the hope that the health insurance scheme would pick up in the state, stressing that it was the only way that the hospitals could be properly maintained in the long term.
The governor acknowledged that the health sector requires huge investment and lots of resources, stressing that the solution is to ensure that the system fully integrates the healthcare system and fund it adequately.
He assured that the state government would continue to engage and fulfill its obligations to development partners and donors, especially with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Health and Hospital Services, Dr Mohammed Makusidi, had enumerated the achievements and successes recorded by the state government through the partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In his presentation, the executive director of the state’s Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Ibrahim Dangana, corroborated the achievements of the state government by the commissioner, stressing that government took a giant stride by signing the MoU.
