A Health Insurance Scheme is in the offing in Kwara State.

To this end, a bill for the establishment of the agency has been forwarded to the state House of Assembly by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. The proposed legal framework, it was learnt, was basically to scale up and institutionalize health insurance programme currently run at communal level.

The state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Atolagbe Alege, disclosed this in Ilorin yesterday while declaring open a day interactive forum organised by the state office of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) for Kwara State Owned Health Care Facilities.

Alege said the bill was due for consideration as soon as the state Assembly reconvenes from its recess. He explained that the drive of the government was predicated on the need to provide quality health service to the people.

The commissioner also informed that the state government would soon flag-off save one million life programme at the basic health level with a view to improving access to health care. He noted that the state government had directed availability of drugs for patients who visit NHIS accredited government hospitals in the state. Alege said the state was committed to make every Kwaran have access to health service irrespective of status.

He assured that the present administration in the state was always ready to partner NHIS in the provision of affordable health care in order to move the state forward. "Basically, the state government feels there is need for us to improve from Community Insurance to the Kwara State Health Insurance scheme. This scheme will include the formal and the informal sectors and everybody. Those in the programme now will still continue to receive the best and good qualitative service they are receiving", Alege said.

Meanwhile, the National Health Insurance Scheme said in Ilorin yesterday that it had introduced Public Primary Pupils Social Health Insurance Programme in Kwara state. About 200,000 pupils across state public schools are targeted for capturing in the scheme as part of the effort to make quality health care services accessible to them.

In the interim, three local government areas of Asa, Ilorin West and Ilorin East have been successfully covered. The state coordinator of NHIS, Alhaji Ganiyu Onimajesin, who made this known, said the programme was to be implemented in collaboration with the state government through its accredited health care facilities.

Onimajesin noted that the proposed scheme had been fully subsidized and solicited the cooperation of stakeholders to ensure its success. Speaking on the rationale behind the interactive forum, Onimajesin stated that the scheme had taken stock of several complaints on the encounter of enrollees in the state owned primary health care facilities including out of drug syndrome and poor attitude to enrollees thereby depriving them of quality health care.

He urged the accredited health facilities in the state to be cognizant of operational guidelines of NHIS and its accompanied penalties if violated. "The state office (of NHIS) has considered it necessary to organise this forum in view of the challenges observed in the operation of our public sector programme in the state owned facilities. As you are all aware, NHIS is committed to the provision of quality health care service to all Nigerians.

"There have been several complaints ranging from out of drug syndrome and poor attitude to the enrollees thereby affecting the quality of services rendered by the state government owned primary health care facilities. "It has also been observed that during strike period, there is no provision of alternative health care services to our enrollees which is against NHIS guideline as fund for their care has earlier been paid" , Onimajesin said.