From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi State Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has promised to mobilise its members to support the programmes of the Kebbi State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (KECHEMA) for effective health service delivery.
The chairman of the association, Dr Murtala Muhammad Dandare, stated this while speaking during a two days retreat organised by KECHEMA, held in Sokoto State.
“I want to assure the agency that we shall dedicate our programmes to enlightening our members on the importance of the scheme. We shall help our patients, who come to our hospitals to register with KECHEMA,” he said.
Dandare added that the association will soon approach the agency for further discussion on how to collaborate in other to further strengthen the health services in the state.
The secretary of the association, Dr Lawal Ismail, assured the agency that they would continue to support them to ensure adequate health delivery services in the state.
He appealed to the agency that if they had an eye treatment department, they would not be issuing fresh recommended eyeglasses to any patients who might have been given one from other hospitals.
Earlier, Executive Secretary of KECHEMA, Dr Jafar Augie Muhammad, who sought the active participation of NGOs, CSOs in strengthening the agency, said that it was the responsibility of all citizens to make the agency adopted by all the people in the state.
“If there is any issue, any problem, KECHEMA is ready to participate in your meetings and deliberations so that we can solve any issue and continue to move forward”, he said.
He said that KECHEMA will collaborate with the NMA during their medical outreach so that there could be robust health delivery services to the residents in the state.
Muhammad commended the IHP for supporting KECHEMA in holding its capacity programmes, stressing that without them, the agency couldn’t have organised the successful retreat.
The Kebbi State Chairman of NLC, Umar Alhassan Halidu, commended the agency for organising the retreat and urged them the participants to have a good perception of KECHEMA.
He added that there is a need for the agency to utilise health workers on the ground to meet up with the agency’s targets.
In her remark, the Financial Advisor of IHP, Dr Aisha Aminu Senchi, appealed to all stakeholders to support the agency to mobilise more enrollees so that there would be an expansion of health delivery to the poor and underprivileged in society.