Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
In Nigeria, health insurance began to function as a practical means of gaining access to the healthcare system in 2005. However, it has become obvious that the program is still out of reach for the majority of Nigerians, with only 5% of the population using it.
Furthermore, of the group using it, 70% pay out-of-pocket for their health insurance plan.
Many people are examining the program’s relative effectiveness in Delta State, where the coverage and finance plan has been praised as excellent, in this regard.
After Governor Ifeanyi Okowa signed the Delta State Contributory Health Scheme (DSCHS) Bill into law on February 4, 2016, health insurance was officially implemented in Delta State. One of the first pieces of legislation Okowa sent to the State House of Assembly after taking office as governor in 2015 was this one.
It highlighted the importance he gave to the health industry in his objectives.
Prior to being elected governor, Okowa had demonstrated his abilities as a champion of the industry through his work as Delta State’s commissioner of health.
It highlighted the importance he gave to the health industry in his objectives. Prior to being elected governor, Okowa had demonstrated his abilities as a champion of the industry through his work as Delta State’s commissioner of health. It should be mentioned that general hospitals in the state that were even lower than dispensing centers were upgraded during his tenure as health commissioner, with some of them becoming specialist hospitals. When the National Health Bill was passed, he took the main position as chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Health as a result of his advocacy work in that area.
That piece of legislation is the comprehensive piece of law underpinning the nation’s health policy.It was as such worthwhile that returning home to Delta as governor in 2015 that Okowa championed the passage of the Delta State Contributory Health Scheme.The significance of the impact of the Delta State government efforts in boosting access to health is underpinned by the fact that more than 10% of all those enrolled in a health insurance scheme in the country are based in Delta State.As at December 2021 with just over 10 million persons enrolled into the different segments of the health insurance scheme in the country, 1,019,461 of the enrollees are based in Delta State. That translates to a coverage of more than 20% as compared to a national average of below 5%.
How Doctor Okowa has been able to put Delta State at the top of access to healthcare, some say, may flow from his background as a medical doctor who started his working life by practicing at the grassroots with a hospital in Igbanke, Edo State. That was before he caught the bug of politics which has now catapulted him to the position of the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Remarkably, Dr Okowa’s talent in politics has helped him to also identify good hands to manage the health infrastructure.One of such is the Harvard University trained Dr. Ben Nkechika, health insurance expert, who was head hunted as director-general/Chief Executive Officer of the Delta State Contributory Health Commission (DSCHC). Remarkably, the advances in promoting access to health in Delta State has received the approval of major stakeholders in the country’s health system and notably, UNICEF.
Given the seeming appalling efforts in many other states, particularly wealthy states like Lagos, Rivers, and others, it is astonishing that the state could receive UNICEF approval with about 20% of its population registered in the health program. Speaking at a policy dialogue with UNICEF last December, Dr. Nkechika noted how the Okowa administration was able to make the health insurance program a success and emphasized the benefits of how the state’s strong relationship with the labor movement contributed to the program’s success in Delta State.
Dr. Ben Nkechika, Director General of the DSCHC, said at the policy discussion that the state had advanced in health insurance because it developed a strategy that was producing better results, adding
He said, “we engaged labour at the conceptualisation stage of the scheme. Several meetings were held with their leaders and at one such meeting; we got to know of their interest and ensured it was accommodated in our planning processes. Thus, labour got involved in our planning and made valuable input and when we were ready to start, resistance was low. The only resistance we got was their fear for quality of healthcare service delivery from government hospitals, which we overcame by enlisting their choice private hospitals into the scheme and enhancement of government hospital service delivery capacity.”
At the policy discussion, Dr. Kinglsey Emu, Chief Economic Adviser to Governor Okowa, also made a point of praising the state government for its success in making the Primary Health Care system the cornerstone of its health policy with universal access.
As commissioner, Okowa was able to overhaul the hospitals, as senator, he was able to pass the National Health Bill, and as governor, he was able to implement the health insurance program. Everyone wants him to accomplish what he might as Atiku Abubakar’s vice president.
