FCTA registers pregnant women for health insurance scheme

The Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA), on Thursday registered pregnant women for health insurance scheme as part of efforts to reduce maternal mortality in Abuja.

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The programme, which was organised by the FCT Health Insurance Scheme (FHIS) in collaboration with the USAID Integrated Health Programme (IHP), seeks to sensitise pregnant women on the need to curb maternal mortality.

Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, Mandate Secretary, FCT Health and Environment Secretariat (FCT-HES), disclosed that free 500 delivery kits had been distributed to pregnant women who enrolled for the health insurance scheme.

Fasawe said that there was no reason for a woman to die due to child birth complications.
According to her, it is not only during delivery that women have complications.

“It also happens sometimes after delivery.

“Today, we are saying that health insurance covers ante-natal care, it also covers them during delivery and after delivery, and we have added another innovation, the safe delivery kit.

“We have realised that there are many women who go to traditional birth attendants for delivery and these people sometimes use instruments that are not sterile or have been used before.

“This pack here is absolutely sterile, it is written that if it has been opened, you should not use again.

“Everything here is single use and is meant to be used during delivery and the things inside protect both the mother and the child and even the healthcare giver.

“The gloves cover and the drapes for the delivery are all inside and it is one per person,” she noted.

She also said that distributing the kits was to encourage pregnant women to register for health insurance.

According to her, the kit usually costs about N50,000 and the practice before now is that everything is listed for the woman to buy before delivery.

“But we give them out free of charge once she is registered for health insurance.

“Right now, pregnant women in Abuja, who cannot afford to pay for health insurance, are going to be registered under the vulnerable group and it is absolutely free of charge.

“Already, in Abuja, ante-natal care is free of charge, but delivery is not.

“However, the essence of today is to let people know that if you cannot even afford to pay for health insurance, there are indices that we use to verify that the person is poor.

“We register the person absolutely free and this kit will be given and the baby will be taken care of for a year free of charge under the health insurance scheme.”

Fasawe also enjoined other residents to enrol into the FHIS, saying it would offer them health care services at minimal costs.

The Minister of State for the FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, said that the FCTA was working to ensure that each ward in the six area councils had a functional Primary Healthcare Centre.

Mahmoud, who was represented by her Chief of Staff, Dr Abdullahi Kauran-Mata, said that there was need to increase health insurance coverage in the FCT, especially for those in the non-formal sector.

She added that health insurance helps in the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and called on the FHIS to ensure that Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) discharged their duties perfectly.

Also, the FCT State Director of USAID-IHP, Dr Frances-Lois Adewumi, reaffirmed her organisation’s support to FHIS.

She said, this was in order to build capacity through training of staff and subsidised healthcare services to reach more vulnerable people and all residents of the FCT in the long term.

Some of the recipients of the kits commended the FCTA for the gesture, adding that it would help to ease the burden that also came with the blessing of child bearing.

They also said that registering for the scheme would ensure that they got the required medical attention they needed.