Stakeholders Disagree Over New Health Scheme

Stakeholders in informa
tion management in Cross River State have disagreed with the state government over its new health insurance scheme tagged ‘Ayadecare.’
The health insurance programme became operational after the state’s governor, Prof Ben Ayade; recently signed a bill to that effect into law.
The new law, according to the State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Inyang Asibong, seeks to provide every resident in the state access to affordable and sustainable health care services, upon a subscription with the sum of N1,000 only.
But, some stakeholders, media practitioners, information officers, veteran journalists, among others, had during the seminar for stakeholders in information management, organized by the state Ministry of Information to brainstorm on the law, said it would not be sustainable in view of the current economic reality in Nigeria.
Even as the health commissioner took pains to respond to enquiries during the question and answer session, a cross section of the audience exclaimed ‘it will not work, it is not sustainable.’
She, however, explained that the scheme would not only cater for the medical need of all residents in the state, but also engage in referral cases from primary to tertiary health facilities, where necessary.
Asibong argued that the scheme was designed in such a flexible way to accommodate vulnerable members in the society, who might not be able to afford the subscription fee.
“Those who can pay would pay, but those who cannot pay would be paid for” she added. Earlier, the guest speaker at the occasion, Mr. James Abiona of JFK consult had urged Nigerians to discard the ‘blame game attitude’ in order to engender the desired change in the country. On the theme: ‘The Can Do Spirit’, Abiona applauded the seminar organizers for the initiative, saying the change mantra should begin with information managers.
He harped on the importance of time management and entrepreneurship among Nigerians, adding that with the right mindset most Nigerians would attain greatness even without the academic world.

Friday Nwagbara, Calabar