24/01/2022
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Protocol
I welcome you all to the official unveiling of the Adamawa State Contributory Health Management Scheme which marks a major milestone towards achieving Universal Health Coverage for our people in Adamawa State.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, this, in partnership with the Federal Government, is our administrationβs strategic commitment to ensuring all residents of Adamawa State have access to needed primitive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services with sufficient quality and equitable delivery without subjecting the people to financial hardship attendant upon by avoidable medical bills which are most often imposed on us unprepared.
The fundamental objective of the scheme is to create a platform that pool resources to enable citizens of the State to access healthcare without paying at the point of access.
Healthcare is an integral part of our 11 Point Agenda, carefully crafted to provide the required compass in improving the lots of our people and developing our State.
We have always maintained that, the administration is focused on delivering the greatest good for the greatest number at all times. This is deeply rooted in our philosophy of βno one is left behind and nothing is left untouchedβ.
Our policy on urban renewal through the provision of modern infrastructure; improving the lots of the rural areas through provision of rural infrastructure; the silent revolution in the education as manifest in the introduction of free and compulsory education at the basic level, consistent payment of examination fees for WAEC and NECO which has translated into huge economic relief on the shoulders of the impoverished parents, recruitment of more teachers to power the schools, reintroduction of feeding regime with improved nutritional rationing in the boarding schools, restoration of scholarship awards to indigent students of tertiary institutions, institution of full sponsorship award for foreign scholarship for our high flying students who merit it, establishment of merit and subduing mediocrity in our school system; are by no means subtle but surely achieving the desired result.
By way of reflection, at the time we took over government in May, 2019, the Health Indices in the State was at its all-time, lowest ebb; with Maternal Mortality at 576/100,000 Live Births, Under-Five Mortality at 132/1,000 Live Births while 76% of Adamawa citizens pay out-of-pocket to access health services.
Civil Servants in the state had no Health Insurance Coverage and had to pay huge medical bills out of their lean pockets. Surely these are indicators that can make any responsible government angry.
We went all out to demonstrate our anger by investing adequate thoughts and resources to reversing this ugly trend. We recognized the quantum of work required to achieve success in the reversal effort.
The first place to start was to build an institutional framework for driving the reversal policy.
To institutionalize a sustainable funding mechanism for health system strengthening at all levels of care in Adamawa State and achieve Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals Agenda, I assented to the Law (ADS No: 18 of 2018 as amended) which provides a legal framework for the operations of the Health Insurance Scheme in the State.
This paved the way for us to attend to the demand side of the healthcare system by constituting and inaugurating the Governing Board of the Adamawa State Contributory Health Management Agency to provide strategic leadership of ensuring all residents of the state are enrolled under the Adamawa State Health Insurance Scheme.
We went on to get the buy-in of the Organized Labour who willingly signed a Service Level Agreement to join the Health Insurance Scheme. On this, I Commend the Leadership of Organized Labour for joining this partnership to ease the burden of healthcare on the workers of Adamawa State.
I call on all Public Officers, our Royal Fathers, Religious Leaders, Opinion Leaders and the Media Establishments to further sensitize the general public to enroll in the Scheme. It is a sure route to victory over healthcare challenges.
Today, I am happy to announce that our administration has paid the required Counterpart Fund that enabled the State benefit from the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
Thus, 29,043 less privileged, namely: People living with Disability, Pregnant Women, Children below Five Years, Internally Displaced Persons and Indigents have been enrolled to access Health Services without paying at the point of accessing Health Care Services.
Furthermore, we have earmarked Equity Fund as provided for in the law establishing the agency to incrementally expand coverage of more Vulnerable Population across all the 226 wards of Adamawa State.
This is in tandem with the Global Best Practice to achieve Universal Health Coverage which comfortably aligns with our guiding philosophy of ensuring βno one is left behind and nothing is left untouchedβ Distinguished Guests, ladies and gentlemen, while this is part of our response strategy for fixing the demand side of the healthcare challenges in the State, we are mindful of the requirements of the supply side hence, our commitment to the improvement of infrastructure in our existing hospitals and even building new facilities across the State.
As I speak to you, works have reached advanced stage in the four brand new Cottage hospitals we are constructing in Gombi, Girei, Shelleng and Lamurde while major renovations and expansion are ongoing progressively in all the General Hospitals in the State.
We have concluded plans to build more Cottage hospitals in Demsa and Mayo-Belwa and would ensure completion of the one at Dumne which was abandoned for over three decades, to improve on the overall health care services in the State.
We have recruited Doctors, Nurses, Medical Laboratory Scientist and Primary Health Care Workers to provide quality health services across the health facilities.
It is our fervent belief that we canβt achieve fair inclusion without addressing the fundamental question of access to healthcare.
On this note, it is indeed my honour and privilege to officially unveil the Adamawa State Formal Sector Health Plan and Basic Healthcare Provision Fund Plan to the glory of God and benefit of Humanity.
Thank you and God Bless
