BY AUSTIN OYIBODE
Director general of the Delta state contributory health commission, Dr. Isaac Akpoveta, has said that the health commission has enrolled over 2 million people resident in Delta state into the scheme.
Dr. Akpoveta made the disclosure when he received a delegation of some online journalists in his office in Asaba, the Delta state capital.
He said since the inception of the scheme during the administration of erstwhile Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the commission has made series of breakthroughs and has helped to save lives of people who could not afford to pay hospital bills in the state.
Akpoveta, a former chairman of the commission and later appointed by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori as substantive director general, said all categories of people including civil servants, artisans, students and all classes of people are enrolled into the scheme to enjoy the robust health packages provided by the commission.
He told the media executives in his office that students in tertiary institutions in Delta state have also been enrolled into the scheme.
Following the success being recorded by the scheme, Dr. Akpoveta said authorities the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) are happy with management of the commission in the state.
He explained that people of all social classes, both formal and informal sectors are captured in the scheme. He listed the vulnerable groups, the indigent persons, students, civil servants as people who can enroll into the scheme and enjoy its robust benefits.
He also said people in hard to reach places, places where one could spend hours either on water or land to reach are also captured in the scheme. He said these laudable initiatives have brought a lot of enrollees into the commission who are reaping the benefits of the scheme.
He identified three initiatives he introduced when he came in as director general of the commission. He said one is the Indigent Enrollees Adoption Intiative. This, according to him, is aimed at well to do members of the society adopting indigent persons and enrolling for them.
He said with the introduction of this initiative, a member of the state house of assembly, UPU members in Lagos, some Deltans in the Diaspora and other good spirited Deltans have enrolled hundreds of Deltans into the program.
Another initiative he mentioned is artisan enrollees inducement. He said this class of people forms 70 percent of the economy, saying without this set of people the economy cannot survive. He said a soft loan is adopted for these persons with the belief that as they enjoy the care, they will be induced to come in.
Dr. Akpoveta also mentioned TSHIP, an initiative meant for students of tertiary institutions in the state. This scheme aims at keying all students in all tertiary institutions into the program. It helps students take care of their health while on campus, during holidays and even when they travel outside the state.
He said for the indigent group, the commission needed philanthropists, civil society organizations, charity organizations, banks and others to help enroll people in this category into the scheme.
The overall objective of all these intiatives, he said, is to save lives and keep the people of Delta state and all residents healthy and live a good life. He said he has told the governor that the scheme would deliver a million lives in this year 2024.
According to him, in less than eight years of its establishment, the commission has covered more than 30 percent of Deltans.
He touched various health issues which the scheme covers. He mentioned maternal and new born healthcare, internal medicine, diabetes, hypertension, surgery, appendicitix, laboratory investigation, eye care, dental care, emergency services among others.
He noted that the scheme takes care of 80 percent of basic health challenges in the health system, saying the programmes executed in the Delta state contributory health scheme is the most robust in Nigeria.
