By Golok Nanmwa, Jos

Director General of the Plateau State Contributory Health Care Management Agency (PLASCHEMA)Dr Fabong Jemchang on Tuesday said that the state government is set to launch its health insurance scheme by September.

Yildam made this known at a one-day meeting on advocacy and health insurance for community-based stakeholders in Jos the state capital.

Our correspondent reports that the programme was organised in partnership with Nigeria Health Watch.

He said that the scheme, which would be launched in first week of September, would see the governor as the first to enroll.

Fabong also added that PLASCHEMA was 98 per cent ready for the launch, which was geared toward ensuring Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

He said that the essence of the meeting was to bring gatekeepers at the community level to ensure participation of the informal sector and build the confidence of residents for its success.

The DG said “we want to involve the informal sector to a large extent because we believe 70 per cent of the population are in the informal sector.”

He added that the stakeholders were critical to the success of the scheme, saying community sensitisation and mobilisation were being organised to educate communities on the benefits of the scheme.

He also said that the target of the scheme was to ensure all residents of Plateau participated in it within a short time.

According to the PLASCHEMA boss, the insurance has four plans namely the equity plan, formal sector, informal sector and the private sector plan.

He noted that the scheme would include the use of Information Communication Technology to ensure access to telemedicine for prompt response, saying it also has 24 hours open line for interaction.

The Programme Manager of Nigeria Health Watch, Mrs Dara Ajala-Damisa, said that the meeting was also to train members of community-based organisations to advocate for adoption of the health insurance scheme in their communities through their influences.

She said the training, funded by Christian Aid Nigeria, was to advocate for access to improved healthcare without financial hardship for people in the informal sector.

The scheme was established by the administration of Gov. Simon Lalong to reduce out of pocket expenditure on health, and to deliver on the mandate of UHC.

It was also established to ensure adequate distribution of healthcare facilities across the 17 local governments of Plateau State.

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Plateau Set to Launch Health Insurance Scheme