AXA Mansard has reiterated its commitment to the development of community health insurance system in the country.
The company’s Managing Director, Mr. Tope Adeniyi, who spoke with journalists during the commissioning of Nathaniel Olabisi Idowu Community Health Centre at Eni Osa, Lagelu/Akinyele local government area of Oyo State, said the company through its HMO would provide technical supports for the partnership between community health centers and University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
He said: “There is an active plan by Nathaniel Idowu foundation to further expand the scope of services provided by the NOICH, to include a soon-to-be-launched community based health insurance scheme (CBHS) which will be managed by AXA Mansard insurance company.
“AXA Mansard being an insurance company will support community health insurance system. We have an HMO that focus on building community to make sure that they have better health care at an affordable cost in order to ensure the sustainability of this partnership between this health centre and University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan.
“We needed to introduce technical support on health insurance whereby the community pays a token and supported by the Nathaniel Idowu health organization so that the centre can keep growing from time to time. We render technical support on how the premium will be determined, collected, administered. We also help in improving the quality of health care from time to time.”
On why the company is fully involved in the initiative, Adeniyi said one of AXA Mansard’s critical objectives is to develop people and empower them to live a better life.
“We threw our weight behind the initiative by developing a model that will ensure a sustainable growth for a developing country, especially through good health system. Universal health care will be easier to achieve by this kind of model. We intend not only to stop here but to extend these services to all teaching hospitals throughout the country, making them to partner with community health development centre for a sustainable health care delivery system across Nigeria,” he added.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said primary health care centres are basically for preventive measures and should be established closer to people in rural areas.
Adewole, who was represented by the Chief Medical Director of UCH, Prof. Temitope Alonge, said UCH would assist the health centres by ensuring that doctors visit the facilities regularly to assist people in the community.
The chairman of the occasion, Senator Lanre Tejuosho, lauded the initiative, saying the Federal Government planned to establish 10, 000 primary health care centres across the country but that has not been achieved due to paucity of funds.
Tejuosho, who is the Chairman of Senate Committee on Health, said: “We are very happy that individuals and organizations are taking it upon themselves to fund and establish health care centres. Lack of primary health centres made it compulsory for teaching hospitals to take up the services of such centres. We are working at the Senate to collaborate with other stakeholders in the health sector to establish more health centres by the end of 2018 so that the centres can take back their roles as primary health care centres in the country.”