The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Anambra State Health Insurance Agency, ASHIA, Dr. Simeon Onyemaechi says over ten thousand pregnant women and children under the age of five are to be enrolled in the second phase of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund in the state.
Dr. Onyemaechi disclosed this when he led his team on an inspection visit to some primary healthcare facilities where the registration is ongoing in Anambra East Local Government Area.
The Basic Health Care Provision Fund was established by the Federal Government under section eleven of the National Health Act, as a catalytic funding to improve access to primary health care.
Speaking after the inspection, Dr. Onyemaechi said that the additional registration was made possible as a result of the saving the agency made from the resources given to it in the first year, which they are now using to register over ten thousand Ndi Anambra for the scheme to increase the number of the beneficiaries in the state from twenty-eight thousand, two hundred and forty-six to over thirty-eight thousand.
The ASHIA boss explained that they prioritized women of child bearing age, people living with sickle cell disease, the elderly above sixty years, people living with disabilities among others in the first phase of the registration, but are now prioritizing pregnant women and children under the age of five in the second phase in order to take care of reproductive, maternal and child health issues, which he noted are critical human development indices.
Dr. Onyemaechi further pointed out that the scheme covers medical and surgical conditions and revealed that whatever case that could not be managed at the primary healthcare facility, should be referred to the secondary healthcare facility for effective service delivery free of charge, and urged Ndi Anambra to utilize the opportunity to register their children and pregnant wives.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Nwaneka Nnamani, who registered at Primary Healthcare Center, Enugwu-Aguleri, thanked both the state and federal governments for the initiative, which she said will help immensely to reduce the out-of-pocket spending in accessing healthcare service.
Dr. Onyemaechi later visited Umueri General Hospital, one of the hospitals in the state the agency powered with solar lights, to ensure that ASHIA beneficiaries in the area are receiving topnotch medical services.
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