Imo assures vulnerable persons of sustainable health insurance

Ex- Speaker, Majority Leader, others defect to APC

GOVERNOR Hope Uzodimma has assured vulnerable persons of better health insurance in deference to extant laws in Imo State.

Opening the first phase for enrolment of this special group into the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund ( BHCPF) of the Federal Government, yesterday, for under- five, pregnant women and the elderly in Owerri, the governor noted that the scheme would allow for insurance of the poor and boost their access to quality healthcare delivery.

“It is another visible signpost in this administration’s resolve for the provision of efficient and affordable healthcare services to Imo people, heralding a brand new chapter in the provision of healthcare delivery in Nigeria,” he said.

Stating that the collaboration was consistent with the National Healthcare Act 2014, Uzodimma observed: “The Federal Government, through the National Health Care Act 2014, established the basic health provision fund to carter for the enrolment of the vulnerable persons covering children under five years of age, pregnant women, disabled and the poorest of the poor in the society.

“The beneficiaries are mostly those in the rural areas that would access the fund through the healthcare centres in all of the 305 wards in the state.

“These centres will serve as a platform through which the vulnerable group would get free healthcare services under the fund. Only those enrolled in the scheme that will have access to the fund.”

The governor pledged the availability of counterpart funds for the programme, urging mass mobilisation of the targets.

He cautioned against mismanagement of funds, threatening offenders with prosecution.

Reiterating the mission of the programme, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Bartholomew Okorochukwu, pleaded with public- spirited individuals to complement government in making the project a resounding success.

In his remarks, Executive Secretary of the National Insurance Health Scheme, Sambo Mohammad, said the project would scale up access to quality healthcare for Nigerians, especially the vulnerable group.

MEANWHILE, former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Maxwell Duru, Majority Leader, Stanford Onyirimba, member, Kingsley Dimaku and one- time representative of Okigwe North in the lower chamber of the National Assembly, Patrick Ndubueze, have dumped the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) for the All Progressives Congress ( APC).

Briefing reporters yesterday after their defection in Ehime Mbano Council of the state, they attributed their decision to the “excellent performance of Governor Hope Uzodinma so far.”

The ex- PDP chieftains who defected with their over 5,000 supporters, promised to assist the ruling party in achieving its goals and objectives in the state and beyond.