UHC: Gov Sani approves enrollment for 70,000 vulnerable people
By :Femi Mustapha in Kaduna
In line with the universal health coverage (UHC) that everyone, everywhere should have access to quality, affordable health care Kaduna State Governor Senator Uba Sani has approved the enrollment of 70,000 vulnerable people, the less privileged and people with disabilities into the Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA) for free.
The State Commissioner of Health, Hajiya Umma K. Ahmed, disclosed this during the flagging off of activities to mark the universal health coverage (UHC) organized by KADCHMA in Kaduna on 9th December, 024.
According to her, the Government of Uba Sani is passionate about the health of the people of Kaduna State and aware of the out-of-pocket expenditures for public and private health facilities.
She added that the Government has taken it as a responsibility to ensure that the healthcare of the people is catered for and the education of the people is taken care of as well.
This she explained will reduce the burden of the people at the grassroots, the People with Disabilities, the vulnerable groups, and the less privileged in the society
The Commissioner stressed that in line with the Day aims to raise awareness of the need for strong and resilient health systems and universal health coverage with multi-stakeholder partners, the State used the opportunity to launch our Information and Registration Center for the informal sector.
“We did that at the Sheik Abubakar Muhammad Gumi Market where a large turnout of people came to witness it and utilized the opportunity to register and start accessing quality healthcare services without spending too much resources.
“The second one is the commissioning of a call center in Zone 2 at Zakari Isa Changwe Primary Healthcare Center to decongest the workload here in KADCHMA Headquarters, and we intend to do the same in Zone 1 and Zone 3.
“We have come to see the call center at the headquarters where our clients have access to the services they receive from our facilities including the formal and the informal sector.” She said
In his remarks, the Director General of KADCHMA, Mallam Abubakar Hassan, said all the facilities commissioned will ease access to every resident of Kaduna State irrespective of their location.
That’s why today, we have unveiled the KADCHMA Information and Enrollment Centers, which gives everyone at the grassroots level access to KADCHMA from every Primary Healthcare Center in every ward of the State.
“These Wards now have the additional responsibility of becoming information and enrollment centers for KADCHMA.
“To make it easier, we opened up the zonal structure today, and since we have three zones, they will take care of the different PHCs in Kaduna, and these zonal structures will report to the Authority here in Kaduna.
“We have made it possible for people to access information and get enrolled into the Contributory scheme and that is our main objective.
“But ultimately, we are also expanding coverage which is what Universal Health Coverage is all about.
“Everyone should be covered irrespective of if they have or don’t have the money to pay.
“The Governor has made it a cardinal point to ensure that the people of Kaduna State are healthy.
“He made this possible by making a pronouncement that 70,000 of the vulnerable population will be added to the list of people that are enrolled into KADCHMA today.
“So we want to increase coverage, we want to ensure that everyone in Kaduna State has access to coverage, and we are not doing it alone.
“We are doing this in collaboration with the Primary Healthcare Board, the Health Supply Management Agency and we are being supported technically and financially by our Partners who are helping us to deliver like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, HSDF, LAFIYA program, UNICEF, SCI, Clinton Health Access Initiative and others.
“We are doing this because we have shown that we have what is credible in terms of strengthening our health system in Kaduna State and the Partners are there to listen to us because of what we have been able to objectively propose to them.
“That is why Kaduna is a choice location for Partners to be able to collaborate to be able to improve what we have as a health system in Kaduna State.”
