The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has urged the Nigerian government to pass and implement the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Health Insurance Bill to increase health insurance coverage for nearly six million people in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
The Chief of Party for USAID’s Integrated Health Programme (IHP), Marta Levitt, made this appeal during the IHP’s closing ceremony in the FCT. The programme, which began on April 1, 2020, sought to improve primary healthcare delivery and build health systems by implementing targeted interventions in reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health, nutrition, and malaria.
The USAID-IHP helped 160 healthcare facilities, including 92 primary health centres, 12 general hospitals, and 56 private health centres. The programme covered 170,009 beneficiaries through the health insurance scheme. Despite these accomplishments, Levitt said much more must be done to cover the full FCT population.
“It’s a big start. Things are ramping up fast. The FCT has six million people; it’s still a long way to go. So please, I have a request for the legislators. We need the passage of the FCT bill for health insurance, please,” she pleaded.
Levitt pointed out significant improvements in the health sector through the programme, stating that maternal deaths and the maternal mortality ratio in funded facilities decreased by 28%. Also, modern family planning methods provided 231,107 couple-years of protection, avoiding over 104,903 unplanned pregnancies, 533 maternal deaths, and 2,615 child deaths.
The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mariya Mahmoud, praised USAID for the IHP’s considerable impact and encouraged the agency to continue its work. She emphasised the programme’s effectiveness in improving health and well-being across the FCT’s six area councils.
“Within the five years of the programme’s implementation, tremendous successes were achieved in the areas of maternal and child health, nutrition, and capacity building of healthcare workers, among others,” she said.
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