From Our Correspondent
The Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have attributed the alarming rising child mortality rates to low enrollment in health insurance schemes in Nigeria.
A Health Specialist with UNICEF, Ijeoma Agbo, made these remarks at a two-day media dialogue workshop, recently in Ibadan.
TheNewsZenith reports that the theme of the workshop is “Changing the Narrative on Child Mortality Through Health Insurance”.
UNICEF advocated for heightened advocacy and awareness efforts, particularly targeting state governments, to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Agbo highlighted the incremental progress in health insurance coverage across Nigeria but acknowledged significant gaps, particularly among vulnerable populations.
“To accelerate progress towards UHC, a collaborative approach involving government agencies, healthcare providers, donor agencies, civil society organisations, the private sector, communities and the media is essential,” she said.
According to data from UNICEF’s 2023 report on Levels and Trends in Child Mortality, 278 million children die before age five. This record is within the spate of 22 years from 1990.
Also, the disparity in mortality risk is stark, with children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa facing an 18-fold higher risk compared to those in Australia and New Zealand.
In light of this, UNICEF and OYSHIA voiced concerns over the prevalent low patronage of unqualified healthcare providers by pregnant women.
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This is despite the availability of superior healthcare through insurance coverage. Agbo added to tragic outcomes for both mothers and their infants.
“Moreover, the root cause of this healthcare crisis, as identified by experts, lies in the misconceptions and lack of comprehensive awareness surrounding health insurance schemes, resulting in poor enrollment rates among citizens.
In response to this pressing issue, stakeholders underscored the urgent need for the widespread adoption of health insurance schemes.
This is to mitigate child mortality rates and alleviate the burden of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses on vulnerable families.
Also speaking, Executive Secretary of OYSHIA, Olusola Akanda, said OYSG planned to insure 500,000 individuals before 2024 ends.
Akanda underscored the necessity for constant innovation to facilitate the widespread adoption of UHC.
He said the state government’s substantial investment exceeded N1 billion towards the scheme.
“In Oyo State today, we are enrolling everybody and every benefit package has a limit,” he said.
“We are focused on enrolling people living with disabilities, those in the informal sector. Also, we’ll enrol the vulnerable and the poor so they can access quality and affordable healthcare.”
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