Anambra To Launch Social Health Insurance Scheme

Raymond Ozoji, Awka

Anambra State Government is set to launch its social health insurance scheme aimed at providing quality healthcare services to the citizens of the state at very low cost.

The health insurance scheme will also address the medical needs of the vulnerable and the indigent such that the aforestated category of persons will access healthcare services without paying a dime for such services.

Disclosing this to journalists at the weekend in Awka , Executive Secretary of the Anambra State Health Insurance Agency Mr. Emmanuel Eze said the state governor Chief Willie Obiano had set funds aside to offset medical needs of the less-privileged and the vulnerable to enable them to access free medical services at the hospitals across the state.

He said that the social health insurance policy was designed to cater for all immediate healthcare services needed by the citizenry ranging from primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare services noting that the agency is to commence registration of benefiaries in june this year.

Eze further explained that the agency had set up criteria to ensure that the indigent and vulnerable individuals benefitted more from the health insurance scheme stressing that the social health package was the vision of the state governor to ensure that the citizens irrespective of financial status has access to quality healthcare services at minimum cost. He added that the state governor was concerned about the medical needs of the vulnerable and the indigent which according to him was the remote reason why the agency was established.

He said that in a shortwhile, residents of Anambra state would have unhindered and unlimited access to the best of healthcare services ranging from special consultations, surgery, maternity, delivery, CS, dental, optical and a host of other services at virtually no cost.