Health

1,629 Women Enjoyed Free Fistula Surgery In Six Months – NHIA Boss

By Alice Etuka, Abuja

Director General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Kelechi Ohiri has said that no fewer than 1,629 women benefitted from its free fistula surgery program between the last six months of its launch to date.

Dr. Ohiri announced the development on Thursday at the second steering committee meeting of the NHIA Fistula Free Programme held in Abuja,

“Right now, about 1629 beneficiaries have been verified paid for between the last six months of the launch to date, but that’s just a number that we have verified and paid for.

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“The number of claims submitted is over almost 2000 and as more awareness you know about the program gets out there, we hope that there will be no woman with fistula program that with fistula who will miss out on and so we’re working with facilities, and one of the next steps will be how we engage civil society to make sure that the word is out there for more and more people to come in”, the DG said.

He disclosed that the programme commenced in four health care facilities when it was launched last year, and currently, about 18 health care facilities have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and are currently implementing the services,

“We have three treatment centres in northcentral, four in northeast, seven in northwest, one in southeast, and three in the south south. Our target is to expand the services to all the facilities that have the capacity to attend to the needs of the affected women”, he said.

On his part, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammed Pate said the programme had seen significant change in terms of the care, and the remediation the women who have obstetric fistula have received.

Pate also said that the initiative was working and reaching the vulnerable women as envisioned by the present administration.

He commended the NHIA and developing partners for the intervention that had brought smiles and hopes on the women with obstetric fistula challenge.

The Minister was, however, optimistic that with the ongoing collaboration with other tertiary health care facilities, more women would be reached with the services, giving them hope, smiles and reason to freely associate with the society.

He further solicited the support of the state governments and other stakeholders to the cause of seamless fistula services to deserving women in their states.

 

 

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