Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Health Insurance Scheme, HIS, has surpassed the enrolment target set by the Health Services and Environment Secretariat, FCT-HSES, for 2024.
Mandate Secretary of FCT-HSES, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, announced this after a road walk organised by FHIS to commemorate the Universal Healthcare Coverage, UHC, Day 2024 in Abuja.
A statement issued by the Public Relations Officer, FHIS, David Barau, yesterday, noted that UHC aims to ensure that no one is left behind, particularly the poor and vulnerable.
Dr Fasawe, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of HSES, Dr Baba-Gana Adam, stated that FHIS had been tasked with reaching 100,000 enrollees over four years, with an annual target of 25,000 enrollees.
However, they have exceeded this target by 11,000.
“The target we were given for the federal sector was 25,000 per year. Between January and November, FHIS enroled 36,000 people, exceeding the target by 11,000. We are still counting, as today is December 12. The goal of UHC is to ensure that no one, particularly the poor and vulnerable, is left behind,” Fasawe explained.
She added that with an established, mandatory legal framework, FHIS is on track to meet its target for informal sector enrolment. The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, has cleared all outstanding payments to Health Maintenance Organisations, HMOs.
“We have never had it so good. All claims from our HMOs and health facilities have been paid. Meetings have been held with stakeholders, including HMOs and our facilities. We have already approved payment for the first quarter of 2025. With the backlogs cleared, we are moving forward to fulfil the minister’s promise,” she noted.
Earlier, the Acting Director of FHIS, Dr Salamatu Belgore, presented the UHC Day call to action letter to Dr Fasawe for transmission to the minister.
She stressed that healthcare is a fundamental human right and not a privilege.
“UHC means that everyone has access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship,” she said.
She explained that in the last 20 years, global financial protection has worsened, with two billion people experiencing financial hardship and 1.3 billion being pushed into poverty due to health expenses.
“In Nigeria, out-of-pocket spending remains high, consistently over 75 percent for the past four years,” she stated.
Belgore highlighted that the call to action letter include proposals for providing a legal framework for the FCT Health Insurance Agency Establishment Act, digital innovations, investment in public health infrastructure, revitalisation of PHCs and the provision of equity funding — two percent from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the FCT — to enroll the poor and vulnerable, as well as address the human resources for health gap.
