By our Reporter
Students of Tertiary Institutions in Ogun State are to be enrolled in the State Health Insurance Scheme in order to enjoy health services cheaper.
Dr. Tomi Coker, Commissioner for Health,
made this disclosure in Abeokuta at an activation meeting with stakeholders on the Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP), which she co-hosted with her counterpart in the Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu.
The meeting, which had the heads of tertiary institutions, both government and private-owned, Deans of Students Affairs, and representatives of the Students Union Government (SUG) in attendance, had deliberations on various issues that would enhance the effectiveness of the initiative.
Speaking on health insurance for the informal sector and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), formally launched in February 2023 by Governor Dapo Abiodun, Coker said undergraduates were considered an important group in the scheme who have not been benefiting from it.
She said the present administration had invested heavily in health across the three tiers of the sector, noting that incorporating the students would enable them to benefit from the scheme both on and off-campus at any time.
The Health Commissioner stated that the government had since engaged artisans, market men and women, and Community Development Associations (CDAs), among others, in a bid to promote and achieve Universal Health Coverage.
According to her,’’ the Prince Abiodun-led government is making efforts to build a solid foundation for the health sector which unborn generations will benefit from. I want to plead with you to come up with ideas and suggestions that will enhance the workability of this TISHIP. If our undergraduates are on board, we will have little or no cause to worry during any health emergency.Coker noted that the Scheme was designed to allow for a referral from the primary to secondary and tertiary levels of care. Any student of Ogun State does not have to pay out-of-pocket to access quality healthcare considering that the Governor has provided equipment, good infrastructure and human resources for health which are not always available to students”, she said.
On his part, Prof. Arigbabu, said the initiative would allow students of tertiary institutions to access quality healthcare within and outside the school environment, stating that the activation meeting was to sensitise the heads of tertiary institutions and the leaders of the students’ unions to have their buy-in.
The Commissioner said ‘’the entire population of students of each school of higher learning can be better educated by the attendees of the meeting on the benefits package of the scheme’’.
In his lecture, the Executive Secretary of the Ogun State Health Insurance Agency (OGSHIA), Dr. Afolabi Dosumu assured that health insurance has come to stay in the State, saying the Scheme was backed by an Act of Parliament.