…As Obasanjo unveils health insurance scheme in Abia
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Governor Alex Otti has promised improved healthcare delivery for all residents of Abia State as the State Government has launched the Formal Sector Health Insurance Scheme to provide accessible and affordable healthcare for Abia workers.
This is as a former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has launched Free Hearing Aid Distribution and Free Medical Outreach in Abia State.
In his speech during the launch at the International Conference Centre Umuahia, Gov. Otti said that his vision for healthcare delivery was to build a system that is dynamic and responsive to the needs of the local population.
The Governor, who titled his speech “BEYOND HEALTHCARE,” noted that nobody in the New Abia would be denied access to healthcare services for reasons of financial incapacity. He said that the launch of the triple-barrelled initiative would revolutionize service delivery and access to healthcare.
“The formal sector health insurance scheme will see tens of thousands of civil servants and their dependants enrolled for round-the-clock qualitative healthcare services at designated healthcare facilities in every part of the State.
“This initiative is structured to drastically reduce out-of-pocket expenditure for individuals in the formal sector employment, cut down risks and hazards associated with self-medication and create demand for medical services in all the public health facilities in our urban and rural communities,” Gov. Otti stated.
He added that the scheme would go beyond the provision of essential medical diagnostics and laboratory services to beneficiaries to offer surgical, orthopaedic, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology services to those that would enrol and ease the financial strain individuals and families pass through, especially in times of emergencies as well as cut down the incidence of maternal and neonatal mortalities.
The Governor said that his expectation was that employees in the various ministries, departments and agencies would take advantage of the initiative and programme.
Otti further stated that the Medical Outreach Programme is targeted at the poor and vulnerable and to abolish carrying out of medical outreach in open places while the launch of hearing aid would provide hearing aids to 1,000 individuals selected to benefit from the Mission.
“This particular project (medical outreach) is the first of its kind. This outreach will ultimately abolish the era of medical programmes and outreaches in open fields, market squares or in community halls.
“I would like to use this opportunity to reiterate the ban placed by the State Government on the use of public schools, markets, religious centres and other unauthorised locations for medical outreach.
“The Sound Intervention Hearing Mission would see the distribution of premium hearing aids and support systems to 1, 000 persons with hearing impairment, selected from different states and communities in the South East region,” Gov. Otti stated.
He commended former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the 2025 Sound Intervention Hearing Mission, a project sponsored by the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation in partnership with the Abia State Ministry of Health.
Unveiling the projects, ex-President Obasanjo, commended Governor Alex Otti for his healthcare policies and for priioritizing healthcare, saying that healthcare delivery is what led to the establishment of his foundation.
“Healthcare security which is what we are doing here today and health for all is what led to my establishing the health insurance scheme.
“Nigeria is a potentially great nation, with people like you (Gov. Otti), we will achieve our potentials. So, we are here to launch the Abia State medical outreach and healthcare delivery for all. This is very important,” Obasanjo noted.
He said that one of the areas of interest of his foundation is hearing and stated that hearing impairment is not a stigma but could be developed as one gets old.
He made a case for the authorities to train a handful of men who can handle hearing aids and its related challenges. The former President praised Governor Otti for the visible strides in all sectors of Abia economy and endorsed him as a great leader of his people.
In his speech, Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, explained that the initiative was a contributory payment scheme with the employee contributing 5 percent or less and the government contributing the remaining percentage to insure healthcare service delivery to State employees and their household who enrolled in the scheme.
He disclosed that in the first 6 months of the scheme, workers would contribute only 2.5 percent of their basic salaries while government takes care of the remaining 2.5 percent, revealing that government has provided N1 billion Naira as take off fund for the scheme.
He said that the scheme is an effort to achieve a mileage in meeting up with the universal healthcare coverage and enjoined all civil servants to register without delay to enjoy the healthcare services.
He further said that the hearing aid speaks to the commitment of the government to partner with organizations to provide services, offer support to the people and develop the State and said that the free medical outreach would reduce patronage of quacks.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary, Abia State Health Insurance Agency, Dr. Chiedozie Egwuonwu, said that the initiative is a testament to Governor Otti’s unwavering commitment to providing affordable and quality healthcare to the people, particularly those in the public sector.
He said that the scheme is designed to safeguard the health of government workers and their families, adding that, it would cover treatment for common healthcare and emergencies
The event which attracted many dignitaries, featured a lecture on Prevention of Hearing Loss, Changing Mindsets, Empowering Yourself Through Sound Intervention Hearing Mission, So that Nigerians May Hear, was delivered by a Professor Emeritus of Otorhinolaryngology, Prof. Basil Ezeanolue.
