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Dr Mansur Mustapha Dada, Executive Secretary, Bauchi State Health Contributory Management Agency
By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
The Executive Secretary, Bauchi State Health Contributory Management Agency (BASHCMA) Dr. Mansur Dada, has lamented that the inability to define in practical terms who a vulnerable person is, has negatively affected the full implementation of the robust health insurance system in the state.
He also said that the lackadaisical attitude of people particularly wealthy individuals in contributing to the scheme is making it difficult to have enough funds for its implementation.
Mansur Dada while giving an update on the implementation of the scheme in the state said that, the primary function of the Agency is to ensure that all citizens got enrolled in the scheme to have access to healthcare services without having to spend out of pocket expenses.
Speaking at a workshop on Media Engagement on Health Insurance organized by the USAID funded Integrated Health Program (USAID IHP) holding at Jamil Hotels, Azare, Mansur Dada said that three categories of members of the communities are the target of the scheme.
He explained that it is made up of the formal and informal sectors and the third category which form the bulk of potential clients, that is the vulnerable group that cannot afford to pay the premium for the cover.
He however lamented that it is the government that is supposed to pay the premium for the third category and that due to competing needs of other sectors, payment for this category of potential beneficiaries is not yet achieved.
According to him, “Over 70 percent of the population falls under the vulnerable target group that can’t afford the premium and this is a concern for us at the Agency”.
He disclosed that BASHCMA has between July 2021 to March 2022 disbursed N200m to the 323 Primary Healthcare Centres and 26 General Hospitals across the state, for the provision of basic and quality healthcare services to over 50000 vulnerable people enrolled under the scheme out of the about 8 million population.
The Executive Secretary said that the vulnerable population was the first set of beneficiaries enrolled under the scheme, noting that the formal and informal components were yet to take off due to some administrative issues which he assured will be sorted out very soon.
He however stated that the Agency was engaging relevant stakeholders to ensure full implementation of the scheme to enable citizens across the 20 local government areas of the state to benefit.
According to him, BASHCMA was the regulatory body responsible for ensuring that beneficiaries of the scheme were provided with quality and accessible healthcare services by the 323 functional healthcare facilities in each of the political wards across the state.
He then lamented that in the North, people are skeptical about issues of insurance the more reason, the Agency was named Health Contributory Management Agency saying that a meeting will be held with the organized labour in order to reach a final agreement on percentage deduction to fund the scheme.
Meanwhile, Bauchi-based Media Network under the aegis of Journalists for Public Health and Development (J4PD) has expressed readiness to partner with the Bauchi State Health Contributory Management Agency (BASHCMA) with a view to creating awareness on health insurance aimed at keying into the national policy on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The disclosure was made by one of the Directors of J4PD, Ms. Elizabeth Kah while giving an update on Media engagement in public health in Bauchi state.
Elizabeth Kah said that the resolve of J4PD to support BASHCMA in its drive to cover all citizens of Bauchi State under the insurance scheme was borne out of the passion J4PD has in seeing that healthcare services are accessible to all citizens of the State.
According to her, “Public health reportage is one of our key areas of competence. There is the need for sustain media campaign on health insurance in Bauchi State. Such coordinated campaigns could be targeted at beneficiaries, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders in the implementation of the scheme”.
She also said that, “The media campaigns could also have a positive multiplier effect of changing negative perceptions on the part of prospective beneficiaries and also holding health care service providers and government accountable on their responsibilities”.
While enumerating some of the achievements of the J4PD, the Director said that, one major challenge halting the activities of the Network is centered around funding to carry out on-the-spot assessment of situations at facilities level, especially in the primary healthcare system, which according to her “is the first point of accessing health care services”.
During the workshop, participants drawn from electronic, print and online media, were taken through focus areas that include: benefits of health insurance and the role of media in Bauchi State, Updates on the implementation of health insurance and activities of J4PD in the state.
The participants are also expected to visit some health facilities to have a first hand information regarding health insurance services in such centers.
