The Edo State Health Insurance Commission (EDOHIS) has celebrated its second anniversary with milestone achievements.
The second anniversary celebration of the Edo State Health Insurance Commission (EDOHIC) is a significant milestone in ensuring access to healthcare for Edo residents. It reflects a commitment to improving healthcare services and promoting wellness within communities in Edo.
The anniversary celebration held on Wednesday at the conference room of EDOHIC, at Edo State Secretariat, Sapele Road, Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Speaking at the event, the Director General, EDOHIS, Dr. Rock Amegor, said in 2022 when the Commission was launched, the Health Insurance Scheme had only three Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), and now the Scheme has about 134 PHCs.
According to Amegor, “We are not yet where we are supposed to be, but we are getting there.
“About two years ago when National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) set up their standards it was expected to be one PHC per ward which amounts to a total of 192 PHCs in Edo State.”
Also speaking at the event, the Edo State Coordinator, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Amb. Theodore Ehannire commended the milestone achievements of EDOHIS in the last two years. He stated that EDOHIS needs to have proper data on everything done with regard to healthcare services delivery in Edo to help in publicising work done.
Ehannire said, “First of all I want to say that at every forum I am always proud of EDOHIS. If we don’t give publicity to what we are doing nobody will know what we are doing.
“I have had so many opportunities to speak with the DG and the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics (DPRS), most times what we are doing in Edo State is not captured enough for the national (NHIA) to know what we are doing. Because for us to achieve what we are achieving you must be passionate about what you are doing.”
“As of 2022, the Basic Healthcare Primary Fund (BHCPF) registration was nine thousand five and ninety-six, in just two years we are talking about sixty-nine thousand six hundred and sixty-two.
“It’s something to shout about and I know we can do more, so let us not rest because we have gotten to sixty nine thousand,” he encouraged.
The Edo NHIA Coordinator stated that the collaborative effort and synergy among EDOHIS, PHCs, and NHIA is yielding positive results, which is good for the people of the state.
Addressing journalists shortly after the event, the Director General of EDOHIS, Dr. Rock Amegor said, “We are here because of our two years anniversary of providing healthcare services to the very vulnerable in our society.
“The State Government and the Federal Government have put funds aside to take care of those who are very vulnerable.”
He further expressed that, “In March 2022, we started giving services from only three facilities under the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) and in that year we have only enrolled about nine thousand people into the scheme. But as of today with the contribution of the state and federal government, we have enrolled about eighty thousand people into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund or the Equity Plan. Sixty-nine thousand from the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and another twenty-one thousand from the State Equity Plan. So they are complementing each other.
“The beauty of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and the State Equity Plan is that there is no co-contribution from the enrollee or the patients whenever they go to the hospital. And those within the rural areas, the semi-urban and urban areas such as the Ward Development Committee or the officer in charge of the facility, and even the Enigies and the Odionweres of the society know those who are vulnerable within them and they are giving a number to register vulnerable people into the society so that every month we get a target of least twenty per facility to make sure those living in desolate areas, those living in urban and rural areas can get access to healthcare wherever and whenever they need this healthcare.”
Dr. Amegor further clarified the high statistics of Edo North and why they are ahead of Edo South and Edo Central.
“The statistics you found out in the North is that, it is something very consistent that we found out during COVID-19, and even though Edo South is a metropolis where a lot of activities are going on, we have realized that the health-seeking behaviour of those in Edo North are better than those in Central and South.
“If you look at the statistics for enrollment and even when we call out for programmes and outreaches for people to participate in their healthcare services, Edo North has consistently come top and so one of the statistics that the digital agency has also drawn out is that Edo North has good seeking health behaviour even though manpower services are the same across board. So we are using that statistics to inform those in other senatorial districts to improve their health-seeking behaviour.
“What that generates or relates to is that for those who have good health-seeking behaviour, they have more longevity, their life expectancy is better, their quality of life is better and ultimately their productivity is better because they have good health-seeking behaviour. This data showed us that we can use it to inform other people in society to say look at what your peer is doing, you can take from what your peer is doing to better your lifestyle.
The EDOHIS DG also said, “Every year the government makes appropriations for the amount it can cover. Just recently the government made provisions for the pensioners in the state amounting to almost eleven thousand and fifty-one, an extra of the twenty-one thousand they have been paying for, that amount to another thirty-one thousand free care, so government within its power and resources allocate what it can provide for free healthcare for the people.
“So at the beginning of the year or before the end of the year, we budget what the government is supposed to cover but if you look at the statistics presented you will see that it has always been increasing. In 2022 we had nine thousand and in 2024 we have sixty-nine thousand, combining that with the state equity we have over eighty thousand. So you see that there has been over 60% increase from where we started and we can only hope that that will continue to increase because of our drive and policies to include those who are vulnerable into the scheme as well.”
Similarly, Dr. Omorogbe Owen Stephen, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics (DPRS) of the Edo State Health Insurance Commission, while speaking with journalists said, “Today we are commemorating second anniversary of EDOHIS, two years of access to care for vulnerable persons in Edo State on the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
“This BHCPF is an intervention fund set up and funded by the Federal and State Governments to provide free qualitative, effective, and efficient healthcare for the vulnerable persons in the state.
“These vulnerable persons are defined as children between 0-5 years, elderly above 65 years, pregnant women, those living with disabilities, and those who are said to be indigent or poorest of the poor.
“The fund is in recognition of the fact that we have quite a high number of persons in the society who need some succour or support to be able to meet up with the basic challenges of life.
“Currently in Edo State we have about 134 facilities that are offering free healthcare services to vulnerable persons across the state, and currently we have about sixty nine thousand five hundred vulnerable persons who are receiving free healthcare services across 134 Primary Health Centres and secondary referral facilities in Edo State.
Earlier, Dr. Owen gave statistics of the milestone achievements of EDOHIS, the challenges they have encountered in running the free healthcare scheme, and what is needed for the commission to get to its expected goal.
