Minister of state for defence Bello Mohammed Matawalle has charged retired military personnel to embrace the health insurance scheme provided by the Defence Health Maintenance Limited (DHML) as enrolment hits 110,000 beneficiaries.
The minister represented by the director of health service, in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Dr Olajide Johnson, gave the charge at an interactive session with veteran bodies organised by the DHML in Abuja.
He said military veterans were lucky to have a system that caters for their health needs after years of service to the father land.
He said it is a good thing that the federal government is now considering the veterans “ because if we look at it in the past once you are out of service you are not considered anymore but meanwhile you have been used over the years and now at the time when you need the country the most, they leave you alone.
“And I say you are lucky because this is what is existing in the civilian realm, they are looking at the DHML experience to make sure that when they retire they can continue to enjoy the programme that is on ground”.
He said over 100,000 veterans have enrolled on the programme and still counting and urged others to take advantage of the platform.
The minister added that the insurance takes care of most of the ailments, adding that efforts were being made to ensure that medical tourism is reduced to the barest minimum.
The minister said the government is also thinking of bringing service to be like what is obtained in the USA.
The managing director of DHML, Rear Admiral Azeez Afolayan (rtd), called on retirees to enrol and benefit from the health scheme.
He said DHML with offices in 22 states of the federation was leaving no stone unturned to ensure all retirees benefits from the package.
“We are here for you, to look after your health,” he said.
