Plachema enrolls over twenty nine thousand Plateau citizen for free health services-Dr. Fabong

Plachema enrolls over twenty nine thousand Plateau citizen for free health services-Dr. Fabong

The director general, Plateau State contributory healthcare management agency, (PLASCHEMA), Dr. Fabong Jemchang Yildam, has discussed that his agency has enroll no fewer than that 29, 969 Plateau citizens who stand to benefited from the free health services since the agency came into existence about two years ago.

The Director General reveal this to media men recently at NUJ Secretariat Jos, the Plateau State capital ahead of Friday 11th March, 2022, event tagged “the domestic resource mobilization Parley that would champion by Governor Simon Lalong and the Deputy Speaker National Assembly Rt. Hon. Idris Maje Wase will serve as resource mobilizer.

Dr. Fabong also stated that the Plateau State Government have fulfilled all the criteria and the payment of the counterpart funding.

Furthermore, Dr. Fabong also reveals that, ” the basic healthcare provision form is the initiative with the support of state Government with nothing less than 1% of the consolidated revenue of Federal Government shared among the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT, and Plateau State having fulfilled all the criteria and the payment of the counterpart funding and have been benefiting from this scheme since 2019 to 2020 and 2021. And we have a total of 29,969 people that are presently benefiting under this scheme free of charge.

“So we have done this and on the 15th September, 2020 we commenced the enroll under the informal sector immediately but for the formal sector we commenced enrollment on the 4th January, 2021, and by the 27th April, 2021 we have commenced access to services across the state starting from the Seventh Days Adventist in Jenger and till today our people have benefited from the services, having access to the scheme and our payment of capitation for service up to date.

“We have minimal challenges here and there but we have taking challenges of out of stock by bringing in the association of indigene pharmacists where people can get medicine in the event that there is no primary facilities. So it is very instructive to know that about 450 facilities across the state both public and private.

“Healthcare in Nigeria is largely giving by the private sector and which is why we cannot do without them.

“We have understood that we have done a lot of progress with the formal sector and the basic equity part but the informal sector is giving us a huge challenge despite the fact that we have engaged more than 1,000 different sub groups, and having different kinds of meetings, advocacy and sensitization.

“So we decided to create what we call the domestic mobilization Parley where we intend to bring all the spirited individuals on the Plateau, politicians and the Representatives of the people to mobilize this resources.

“We have the list of partial inclusion which means that we will pay half of the management of that patient and the patient pays half. For instance, if the patient has kidney failure is undergoing dialysis you can pay 50% and the patient pays 50%. If you have fractures probably on the skull or vital organs that you need to do an MIR the patient pays 50% because that is expensive.

He also explained that those who comes in the name of cosmetic surgery we cannot do that because it is in the total exclusion of this services.

“So we have to reached out to a lot of people come Friday 11th March, 2022 we will be hosting a lot people on the Plateau those who matter, the leaders on the Plateau to come and see what we have done in this two years of operationalizing the healthcare services scheme which will also serve as a platform of giving out our stewardship and ask them to buy premium stock for our people.

“We also say have access to this quality stuff is very key to us. People have died because of N1,000,N2,000 and don’t have money, some have indebted, some have sold their means of livelihood such as;lands, houses to settle medical bills and has further impoverished the people.

“So, our coming on board is to eliminate what has been described as catastrophic out of pocket expenditure to give the people on the Plateau a succour, to give them quality life and to ensure that they benefit from this huge social medical services that has created by the rescue administration under Governor Simon Lalong on the Plateau”, he mentioned.