AS a way of increasing younger people’s access to adequate healthcare, the Federal Government said it has concluded plans to enroll no fewer than 21 million pupils from public primary schools nationwide into the Public Primary Schools Pupils Social Health Insurance Scheme under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

This is targeted at assisting to reduce the financial cost of accessing healthcare delivery amongst pupils in government owned primary schools. 

Zonal Coordinator, South-South of NHIS, Chinyere Nduaka, stated this yesterday at an event organised by a non-governmental organisation, Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) to mark this year’s World Malaria Day where he said the scheme for children would commence in the second half of the year.
  

Represented by the Head of Department, Standard and Quality Department, NHIS, Dr. Akinfewa Oyekola, Nduaka said the scheme is among other things, designed to help alleviate and reduce the financial burden of pupils at primary school age accessing healthcare and to help eliminate and prevent malaria and other life-threatening ailment.
  

While explaining the devastating effects of malaria on the African child, he said it is among the five deadliest diseases on the continent that has continued to ravage and kill mothers and children who are the most vulnerable to the scourge, adding that, “malaria is more prevalent among infant, mothers and particularly pupils under the age of five within the primary school age bracket.
“The need for Public Primary Pupils Social Health Insurance Scheme under the NHIS programme is mainly focused at pupils in public primary schools with a view to ensuring adequate access to quality healthcare among infant and children.”