How OYSHIA Is Boosting Healthcare Access For Oyo Students - Akande



L-r: Dr Olusola Akande, Executive Secretary, Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OSHIA); and Ijeoma Agbo, Health Specialist, UNICEF at a two-day media dialogue on “Changing the Narrative on Child Mortality Through Health Insurance,” organised by the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency with the support of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ibadan, Oyo State, Wednesday.

The Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA), the enrollment of students in the state's health insurance scheme has significantly reduced out-of-pocket expenses among them, thereby enhancing their access to immediate healthcare.  Students who become ill can now easily visit their institution's clinic or sick bay for treatment.

Disclosing this was Dr. Olusola Akande, Executive Secretary of OYSHIA, who noted that the premium for the health insurance scheme goes as low as N13,500 per annum for each person in the State, adding that the informal sector is also accommodated and allowed to pay every month.

Akande spoke Wednesday, on the sidelines of a two-day media dialogue in Ibadan, organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with OYSHIA, with the theme “Changing the narrative on child mortality through health insurance.”

He told this Reporter, “Enrollment in the health insurance scheme will create an enabling environment whereby the students who develop issues can walk to the institution’s clinic or sick bay to access medical care.

“So, this reduces out-of-pocket expenditures to a certain percentage. Like here, OYSHIA pays a capitation of 55 percent of the premium.

“We have other benefits and transformations going on in our various institutions, being part of the impact that health insurance is making in the education sector in Oyo State.

“The efforts would build trust in parents and guardians about the healthcare and safety of their children, and they would worry less because the institution is covered by a health insurance scheme,” he added.

The OYSHIA Executive Secretary urged other states to create an awareness-raising and enabling environment for students and community members to access the scheme initiated for both the rich and the poor.

Commending UNICEF for the collaboration, he said that the services extended to tertiary care included consultation, investigation, drugs, basic surgical intervention, and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), among others.


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