Osinbajo: FG plans to expand NHIS

Yemi Osinbajo, vice president, says the federal government plans to expand the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to cater for the health of Nigerians.

The vice president was speaking in Bauchi while inaugurating the Bauchi state health contributory scheme, Bauchi state trust fund and agencies’ office on Saturday.

“We will expand the NHIS during our next level to ensure that the scheme covers all Nigerians,” he said.

“The modern way of easy access to health facilities is either through contributory scheme or Trust Fund, which Bauchi State has introduced both the Contributory Scheme and went ahead and equally introduced a Trust Fund.

“Bauchi State has also diligently queued into all federal government social investment programmes.”

He said that all state governments should have their own health insurance scheme to complement federal government efforts at delivering qualitative, accessible and sustainable healthcare services.

Osinbajo noted that Bauchi state has the highest beneficiaries of social investment programmes introduced by the federal government.

“The 14,075 youths in the state had benefited under N-Power programme while 618,214 students are being fed daily under the school feeding programme,” said the vice president.

“No fewer than 9,799 farmers have accessed funds under the micro credit and 29,000 traders have been assisted under the trader-moni while 23,000 vulnerable ones have been assisted under the conditional cash transfer scheme.

“These are all under what the president’s ways of taking care of the commonman.”

Muhammed Abubakar, governor of the state, had earlier said that the scheme was introduced to enable people of the state have access to quality health services.

Abubakar said that the scheme would assist both the poor and rich have same qualitative health services.