KADCHMA canvass traditional, religious leaders’ support for Contributory Health Scheme

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA)Director General, Mallam Abubakar Hassan has urged traditional rulers and religious leaders in the state to live up to their responsibilities of always sensitizing their subjects in their various communities on the need to enrol in the Kaduna State Contributory Health Scheme (KSHS) to reduce out of pocket spending on health care.
The KADCHMA Director General, made this known in Kaduna yesterday, during an engagement meeting with the leadership of traditional and religious institutions on the Kaduna State Contributory Health Scheme (KSHS).
Mallam Hassan informed the Royal fathers and religious leaders that the agency is particularly concerned that the informal sector has not embraced the scheme with all the benefits that are accrued to enrollees.
According to him, at present, just about 1% of those who have enrolled in the insurance scheme are from the informal sector. It is the formal sector that has supplied the bulk of the enrollees.
He expressed dismay that this should not be the case, saying market women, plumbers, masons, mechanics, farmers, and carpenters, to mention a few informal sector business persons, can also be enrolled in the scheme.
In this regard, the position of religious and traditional leaders cannot be overstated. Equally important is the collaborative effort of relevant government agencies, healthcare providers, community leaders, civil society organizations, and, most importantly, the beneficiaries themselves.
He stressed the idea is to plan for the future as it can help them get the medical care they need for a token that would have earlier deposited and supplemented by the government without having to worry about the high costs of health care services as at the time of your need.
“We are therefore calling on religious leaders to use their sermons in mosques and churches to educate their followers on the benefits they stand to gain, as shall be further explained, by enrolling in the health insurance scheme.
“Similarly, our traditional rulers are, also respected in their domains and can use their age-long channels of communication to inform their subjects of how the scheme works. “