Healthcare Reforms: NHIA North East Region Unveils Progress, Vision for Accessible Insurance Coverage
Posted by Abdulaziz Ibrahim Hassan | 7 months ago | 588 times
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), recently, held its North East Peer Review meeting in Gombe to discuss the
progress and challenges in implementing health insurance in the region, focusing on observations, challenges, and recommendations for enhancing healthcare delivery.
The meeting, covering the period from July to November 2023, brought together Heads of Department, State Coordinators, and the Zonal Director, fostering collaboration to address key issues in health insurance implementation in the North East.
Chaired by the Director, Pharm. Ghali Musa, said the meeting was aimed at assessing performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses, promoting best practices, addressing challenges, and enhancing communication within NHIA offices.
"The objectives of the meeting included reviewing activities, identifying bottlenecks, making improvement recommendations, and ensuring compliance with operational guidelines," Musa said.
Notable achievements included measurable NHIA enrollment, successful expansion of health insurance coverage, and substantial engagement with Healthcare Facilities (HCFs) through quality assurance exercises. While the majority of facilities received satisfactory ratings, some faced challenges such as inadequate training and non-functional suggestion boxes.
According to him, the North East region encountered challenges such as insecurity in specific states, delays in approving activity memos, insufficient office equipment and infrastructure, inadequate manpower, and funding cuts in some memos.
Speaking further, Musa said the proposed recommendations aimed to address challenges, emphasizing timely memo submission, strengthened training for healthcare staff, improved drug availability, requisition for equipment, intensified advocacy, provision of operational vehicles, enhanced collaboration, and proactive measures by State Coordinators.
He said, "the implementation of these recommendations is crucial for enhancing healthcare delivery and insurance coverage in the North East, contributing to the broader goal of providing affordable and accessible healthcare services to the region's citizens.
The Director, however, highlighted major developments, including the transition of leadership to a new Director General and the inspection of prototype State Offices.
Advocacy visits were conducted to improve collaboration and ensure the effective implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) in the Zone.
