ABUJA – The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) said pupils in public primary schools in the country would soon enjoy free healthcare at all levels under a special arrangement of the scheme.
Mr Ayo Osinlu, the Head, Media and Public Relation, NHIS said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja
The statement described the initiative as one of the strategies being developed by the scheme toward the timely and unfailing attainment of universal health coverage in the country.
It appealed to state governors to make health insurance mandatory in their states as this would be a significant step in the promotion of health insurance as a social security.
The statement said that this would enable those with financial capacity to make provision for those who could not afford to pay for healthcare.
According to the statement, the comprehensive digital process of registering the primary school children in the exercise is being finalised by the scheme.
It said that this would ensure that the integrity of the registration process was preserved through transparency and total inclusion.
The statement noted that the scheme would bear the total cost of the programme for the initial year after which the state governments would be required to provide 60 per cent of the funding.
It stated that the scheme would bring up the balance of 40 per cent, and that this was to guarantee the sustainability of the programme.
It statement said that at expiration of the NHIS/MDGs special intervention for Maternal and Child Health in 2015, pregnant women in the benefiting states would continue to enjoy free healthcare nationwide.
It said that the scheme would bear the cost for the first three years.
The statement urged the governors to ensure the participation of their states in the programme as a political bonus before the expiration of the programme in 2015. (NAN)
