The Oyo State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF flagged off a health insurance scheme for public primary school pupils.
The scheme is a new initiative of the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA), supported by UNICEF, to improve access to quality healthcare for indigent children in the state.
Speaking at the launch, the Executive Secretary of OYSHIA, Dr Sola Akande, said that the scheme was aimed at providing access to healthcare for 10,000 public primary school pupils in the first instance.
Akande noted that the new scheme, in addition to the existing models, such as tertiary students’ health insurance scheme and others, had given access to quality healthcare services to more than 250,000 residents of the state.
According to him, different health insurance schemes by the agency have reduced the citizens’ out-of-pocket expenditure to an average of 10 percent from the current rate of 75 percent.
The Chief of UNICEF, Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, explained that access to affordable and quality healthcare remained the fundamental right of every child.
She also added that the initiative reinforced UNICEF’s collective commitment to universal health coverage, ensuring that no child faced financial obstacles in accessing healthcare.
Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Nureni Adeniran, commended OYSHIA and UNICEF for considering indigent pupils as part of the beneficiaries of its various schemes.
He assured of SUBEB’s readiness to ensure the success of the scheme.
Also speaking, Chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State Wing, Mr. Raji Oladimeji, said that the initiative would enhance quality healthcare and provide succor to the pupils.
Oladimeji enjoined the teachers to continue to work hard to ensure that state maintained its pacesetter status, particularly in the education sector.
The Oyo state Deputy Governor, Adebayo Lawal, urged OYSHIA to double its efforts to capture many pupils across schools in the state within the shortest possible time.
