The Oyo State government, on Thursday formally announced the enrollment of 10,000 basic school pupils into the state’s health insurance scheme to give access to healthcare to public school children in the state.
The children, enrolled from 90 schools across 18 LGAs, were presented their insurance scheme ID cards on Thursday at the Ibadan Civic Center, Idi-ape, Ibadan, by the Deputy Governor, Barrister Bayo Lawal.
Barrister Lawal said that the scheme, the first in Nigeria, will ensure that our children have sound minds while they learn in conducive environments and applauded the collaboration between the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency, OYSHIA and the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, OYOSUBEB, in providing healthcare opportunities to public school children in the state.
The Deputy Governor also charged OYSHIA to double its efforts in extending the scheme to every school in the State and urged parents and guardians to participate.
In her goodwill message, Ms. Celine Lafoucriere, Chief of UNICEF Lagos Field Office, said the initiative will ensure equal opportunities for every child and that access to affordable, quality healthcare is a fundamental right for every child.
She said the initiative reinforces the collective commitment to universal health coverage, ensuring no child faces financial obstacles to healthcare access.
Lafoucriere declared that when children have access to healthcare, they can focus on education, grow into productive adults, break the cycle of poverty, and contribute to the success of Oyo State and Nigeria.
She declared, “UNICEF proudly supports this health insurance initiative, and we eagerly look forward to continued partnerships to grow the scheme further. Let today’s event be a rallying call for action—our commitment to ensuring every child in Oyo State has access to healthcare. UNICEF remains steadfast in supporting the government and communities toward universal health coverage.”
Executive Secretary, Oyo State Health Insurance Agency, Dr Olusola Akande said the enrollment of an additional 5,500 pupils into this scheme will commence next week.
Dr Akande declared that the scheme now provides over 250,000 residents of the state access to quality healthcare services and reduced their out-of-pocket spending on health care to an average of 10 percent from the current rate of 75 percent.
Dr Akande said that enrollees in the scheme in 2024 benefited from 656 major life-saving surgeries, including one open heart surgery, 261 caesarian sections, and 195 cataract surgeries.
According to him, the agency paid up to N735,366,023 as capitation to all its accredited hospitals in 202,4, and this had ensured that these hospitals made significant headway in the infrastructural upgrade of their facilities, procurement of essential tools, and provision of drugs and consumables in hospitals.
He added that the capitation has contributed significantly to the effort of the Oyo State government in repositioning our hospitals for better service delivery, especially at the primary health care level.
The new door being opened today is focusing on providing access to healthcare for 10,000 public primary school pupils in the first instance. This we have been able to achieve through the immense support of UNICEF.
“In addition, through UNICEF support, the agency has been able to improve on our awareness campaign and increase the communities under the Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS) by 100 percent.
“I invite you all to join hands with us like UNICEF has done in ensuring access to care for the poor, the vulnerable, and the rural population of our state.”
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, applauded OYSHIA and OYOSUBEB for their commitment towards healthy basic school pupils and assured the agencies of her Ministry’s unparalleled commitment to the scheme.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman of OYOSUBEB, Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran, applauded OYSHIA, pledging the Board’s commitment to the smooth take-off and sustainability of the scheme, and declared that the scheme would enable the beneficiaries to receive quality healthcare without paying exorbitantly to access it.
