Kebbi Enrols 100 Disabled Women In Health Insurance Scheme

Kebbi Enrols 100 Disabled Women In Health Insurance Scheme

The Kebbi Government has enrolled 100 women with disabilities into the State Contributory Health Management Agency.

Speaking in an interview on the sideline of the launch of the programme in Birnin Kebbi on Saturday, Dr Suwaiba Jadadi from KECHEMA said the essence of the programme was to facilitate easy access to health for persons with disabilities.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Jadadi spoke at a one-day Mental Health Awareness Outreach and Enrollment of 100 Women with Disabilities in Kebbi State Contributory Health Management Agency.

NAN also reports that the programme was organised by the Network of Women with Disabilities in collaboration with KECHEMA and NANAS Charity Foundation.

Jadadi said: “This will have a great impact on their lives because most of them need medical care, healthcare services, and it’s very difficult for most of them to access care.

“But with this free medical healthcare, whatsoever their problem is they can easily go to the hospital and they will get the services free-of-charge, without paying a pany.

“They need not even to buy a card, everything is free from the beginning to the end, ranging from consultation, investigation to drugs, everything is free including surgeries.”

She said, as part of the agency’s responsibility, the agency used to enroll more than 1,000 enrollees annually, saying that the agency had so far enrolled over 140,000 beneficiaries across the state.

On her part, the state Coordinator, Network of Women with Disabilities, Dr Lai’atu Augustine-Bamaiyi, said the essence of the outreach was to bring succour to the plights of those living with disabilities in the state.

She observed that persons with disabilities need somebody to put them through to be able to address some of their plights “so that they can live their lives just like any other human being.

“These are part of the reasons that our organisation felt it is necessary to organise this programme to sensitise them, screen them, examine them and get to know their little problems to be able to cure in good time.

“As you can see, the programme is organised in collaboration with KECHEMA, it’s a state agency that is supporting and doing so much to vulnerable persons, currently, they are enrolling 100 vulnerable persons into their insurance scheme free.”

She appreciated KECHEMA, NANAS Foundation as well as the women medical team for their determination and support towards the success of the programme.

Augustine-Bamaiyi advised people living with disabilities not to see their challenges as the end of life, instead, they should be determined and courageous enough to reach their goal and attain maximum peak.

On employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, Augustine-Bamaiyi assured that the NGO was doing its best to ensure inclusiveness in the state.

She, however, noted with satisfaction that Gov. Nasir Idris of Kebbi had established a new Commission for Persons with Disabilities, adding that in no distance time, their complaints would be a thing of the past.

Also speaking, a member of the medical team from Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Dr Khadija Abdullahi, said: “We are here for our special guests, persons with disabilities, to consult, examine, check their health and give them health awareness talks about mental health.

“We are also here to encourage them to take care of their health, sometimes they have limitations because of the way they found themselves but we are here to tell them that this is not their fault, this is how God created them.

“We are also here to tell them that their challenges will not limit them from achieving whatever they want to achieve in life.

“Doctors are here checking their vital science, we also have opthalmologists stand, who are checking their eyes, especially the albinos, most of them have problems of vision and some have refractive errors, while some have other issues regarding their eyes.

“The ophthalmologists will check their eyes and give them medication and glasses as the case may be. We also have stands for consultations where they can check their overall health status and collect drugs,” she noted.

Abdullahi also used the medium to passionately appeal to well meaning individuals, corporate organisations and government to assist the crippled persons with wheel chairs, especially those crawling to ameliorate some of their challenges.