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From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
While the need for social security continues to grow in Nigeria, the government of Gombe State has introduced a contributory health scheme to help residents address out-of-pocket payment for medical bills.
According to the government, the social health programme, which is being managed by the Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (GoHealth), was part of the state’s efforts to support the global campaign on universal health coverage (UHC).
The agency was established after legislative deliberation and a law that was signed by Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya soon after assuming office in 2019.
Dr. Abubakar Musa, the executive secretary of the agency, told Daily Sun that GoHealth followed the decentralization policy of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) that paved the way for the creation of state social health insurance schemes across the country.
He explained that the aim was to ensure access to effective, qualitative and affordable health care to all residents of the state.
He explained that this was possible through a credible and sustainable mechanism for pooling resources to finance the services, and improve access to better health care with financial risk protection.
Abubakar stated that, with agencies such as GoHealth, families tend to be protected from the financial hardship that has to do with huge medical bills and reduce or limit the inflationary rise in the cost of health care.
He added that the programme would aid equitable distribution of health care costs across different income groups while also ensuring the provision of a higher standard of health care to the beneficiaries as well as improving and harnessing the private sector’s participation in the provision of health services.
He disclosed that GoHealth has so far accredited 109 health care providers in the last one year since its establishment in the state and no fewer than 70,000 people are already benefitting from the scheme.
“Compared to the entire population of Gombe, 70,000 is negligible but we are just about a year old and we hope that, by the time we wrap up advocacy and sensitisation and people get to understand why they should participate in the scheme, the enrolment rate is going to improve,” Abubakar said.
The executive secretary, at a meeting with journalists in the state, promised to engage and carry the media along, as it plays a vital role in creating awareness in the populace: “We are gathered here today so that we will become advocates for the people of Gombe State to join GoHealth, and you can only do that if you understand the concept of the various programmes that the agency runs.
“That was why we organised this capacity-building event for journalists, to acquaint them with the operations of the agency.”
Director of planning, research and statistics of the agency, Malam Tanimu Umar, disclosed that 61 private and 48 public health care providers have been accredited and the certified facilities comprise 52 primary health centres and 53 secondary health facilities, as well as four tertiary health care institutions.
According to him, the secondary health care providers record 1,265 patients, while referrals to tertiary institutions stood at 1,002 monthly. Quarterly assessments were being conducted across accredited facilities to enhance the access of quality care.
Tanimu listed high blood pressure, complicated malaria and peptic ulcers as some of the common ailments.
On his part, the executive director of SAIF Advocacy Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, Alhassan Yahaya, encouraged journalists to be at the forefront of the enlightenment.
He said: “Those that have not been registered need to key in because of the immense benefits attached to the scheme.”
He expressed optimism that Gombe State would achieve universal health coverage, in line with the World Health Organisation’s guidelines, if all and sundry support and sustain the scheme.
