The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged the federal and state governments to increase funding for the health insurance scheme, saying this would help in bringing more vulnerable persons on board.
UNICEF Health Specialist at the Lagos Field Office, Dr Ijeoma Agbo, said that every citizen should have access to a good and qualitative healthcare system.
Agbo made the call in her presentation at a two-day media dialogue jointly organised by UNICEF and Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA) for journalists in the South West.
He noted that the National Health Insurance Act (NHIA) and state agencies made health insurance mandatory for all citizens, stressing the need to improve funding to capture the vulnerable, including pregnant women, children and the elderly, among others.
Agbo said: “We would like to commend the government because when it comes to enabling policies, we have that in place. Good health is a human right and everyone should have access to good and qualitative healthcare services when they need them and one thing that is important is that while doing this, no one has to go into extreme poverty paying for healthcare. That is what we call out-of-pocket payment.”
Executive Secretary of OYSHIA, Dr Olusola Akande, emphasised the need to enforce the health insurance scheme to shore up enrolment.
