About 136,507 poor and vulnerable population and informal sector have been enrolled into the Kaduna State health insurance scheme.
Head of Administration and Finance, Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA), Mr Suleiman Mustapha, disclosed this in Kaduna, during a one-day Roundtable Dialogue on maternal and child health.
The Maternal and Child Health-Civil Society (MCH-CS) Partnership with support from Save the Children International organised the round table.
Mustapha said 79,329 poor and vulnerable populations were enroled for free basic health under the one per cent consolidated revenue of the state government.
According to him, the state government had so far released N1.1 billion to cover the basic health care services of the poor and vulnerable.
He also said an additional 50,648 poor and vulnerable population were enroled under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, adding that a total of N1.1 billion had also been contributed to cover their healthcare.
KADCHMA Executive Secretary , Mr Abubakar Hassan, said the agency was established in February 2018 and began provision of health services in June 2020.
According to him, the health scheme is part of the state’s human capital development and social protection strategy for all residents.
“The scheme aims to reduce out of pocket spending on healthcare to the barest minimum, thereby reducing poverty arising from catastrophic and impoverishing health spending.
“The contributory health scheme is a social security system for all residents, carefully designed such that the rich, the healthy and the young subsidised the healthcare of the poor, the sick and the old.
“This is consistent with traditional African solidarity and in line with the overarching global agenda of attaining Universal Health Coverage.”
Earlier, Chairperson, Maternal and Child Health-Civil Society Partnership (MCH-CS), Mrs Dorcas Adeyemi, said the dialogue was to share updates on key mandates and programmes of selected health agencies.
Adeyemi added that the meeting was to share understanding on the critical roles of civil society in promoting quality Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) services and accountability in the state.
“This will help us share areas of collaboration in relation to MNCH advocacy and accountability in Kaduna State,” she said.
