UNICEF Urges Southwest Govt To Fund Health Insurance Scheme

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged the government at all levels to fund the Health Insurance Scheme so that it can cater to the health of children wherever they are in the region.

UNICEF said that when governments effectively fund the health insurance scheme by paying their equity component, children who cannot pay will be more likely to be covered.

The Social Policy Manager, UNICEF Nigeria, Mohamed Okorie, stated this on Wednesday at the Southwest Regional Health Insurance Conference held in Akure, the capital of Ondo State.

At the conference titled, “Attaining Universal Health Coverage through a Strengthened Health Insurance Scheme”, Okorie pointedly said, the evidence UNICEF has from mid-2021, “actually shows that the number of children covered and the number of women covered in this health insurance is low. We want this increase. ”

He said, “What is UNICEF’s stance about this programme? For us at UNICEF, this is the most important program supporting the child’s rights because we’re discussing health insurance.

“And the most important thing is that we are looking at regional integration. Health insurance is not just in one state, but across a whole region.

So for us, it’s essential. And why is health insurance necessary for us?  Because one of the first rights of a child is the right to health. And when we talk about health, we’re referring to universal health coverage, where a child gets all the health needs, not based on ability to pay, but on need.

“And one of those mechanisms that guarantees that is a health insurance scheme. Today, we are reviewing the progress made, looking for a way forward, and then determining how to integrate this scheme across the entire sector.

“For us, health insurance becomes even more important because when you get it right with health insurance, you can get it right with other child rights. For example, rights to education, and others.”

Declaring the conference open, the Ondo State governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, noted that access to good healthcare service remains the bedrock of any prosperous society.

Represented by his Special Adviser on Health Matters, Prof. Simi Odimayo, Aiyedatiwa stressed that the foundation upon which “we build healthy families, productive communities, and a vibrant economy.”