Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru has said that 137,133 citizens of the state have so far benefited from the state health insurance agency under his administration.
Gov. Nwifuru made the disclosure during an enlarged press briefing held at the Women Development Centre, Abakaliki, stating his administration readiness to extend the free health care services to all residents of the state.
The governor represented by the state Commissioner for Health, Moses Ekuma broke down the beneficiaries to include children under five-42,088; pregnant women -20,786; the elderly -15,644; people with disability-1,210; indigent-41,783; formal sector- 8,061; informal sector -2,214; retainership-5,347 and active enrolment -86,000.
He noted that the administration met 34,000 registered beneficiaries of the scheme with poor equipment and personnel in general hospitals, but said a lot has been done to ensure all political wards are enrolled under the scheme.
“When this administration started, we discovered that those things that will make the health sector meet its desired objectives were not there; no personnel, medical equipments and consumables.
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“Before now, we had 34,000 people enrolled in the scheme and presently have 137,133 Ebonyians that have enrolled within the two years.
“And, you know that you can’t talk about universal health without talking about health insurance because the reason our people avoid hospitals is because of lack of money.
“It has also increased the number of our women that enrolled for antenatal care, indigents, students, and children,” Gov. Nwifuru said.
Chairman of the Ebonyi State Health Insurance Agency, Mrs. Ogechi Ogbaga and Secretary, Dr. Divine Igwe, thanked the state government for making health free for Ebonyians and urged the people to continue supporting the Nwifuru’s led-government so as to attracts the dividends of democracy to their areas.