By: Promise Adagba
Stakeholders have met to improve on services rendering to subscribers of the the Orange Health Insurance Scheme (ORANGHIS) especially for Ondo State Workers, declaring that all challenges identified will be resolved by the State Government through the State Contributory Health Commission.
The stakeholders which include representatives of Ondo State Ministry of Health, organised labour and the Director General of the Ondo State Contributory Health Commission, Dr. Abiodun Oyeneyin among others, expressed their commitment to resolving various identified challenges particularly at UNIMEDTH.
Addressing the participants in Akure at the stakeholders sensitization Programme organized by the Commission, the Director General said the commission is doing everything possible to make the contributory health scheme a model in Nigeria by rendering qualitative health services.
Oyeneyin assured of improved health insurance scheme in other to serve the civil servants better, stressing that the stakeholders programme was designed to address issues concerning workers in getting access to quality health services under ORANGHIS.
He said, “we have a monitoring team for the scheme because we believe that what is not monitored, cannot be improved upon, that is why we called this Stakeholders’ Meeting to ensure that we come together with the labour leaders to have feedback.
“We have decided that we would join hands together with the labour leaders to go round the health centers to put the organization to questioning why they are not doing their job well”, said Oyeneyin
The Director General expressed optimism that the insurance scheme is going to be better than before.
“We do not have any doubt in our mind that the scheme in Ondo State is going to be a model in Nigeria, we are going to expand our network so that people would get value for their money.
“We will form a committee that would checkmate our health centers in order to get a good healthcare services,” Oyeneyin opined.
In his remarks at the meeting, the Head of Service, Mr Bayo Phillips, who was represented by a Permanent Secretary, Mr Ayodele Francis, also added that all challenges would be addressed for healthcare improvement.
“The health insurance scheme (ORANGHIS) is the best, from our assessment we have seen some success, although there are some challenges in which we have discussed and we would address it.
“In the stakeholders Programme, we have facts, the commission would address every issue.”
The HoS noted that after the health workers recruitment, there would be improvement in the health sector in the state.
“The Governor has directed the recruitment of health workers, when this is done, we would have more improvement in the health facilities, let us expect better.
“We would interact more with stakeholders on the issue of our health system especially for our teaching hospitals development. I want to assure you that we would make a fantastic progress in the health sector,” Mr Phillips said.
In his contribution, Comrade Victor Oladele Amoko, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on behalf of the stakeholders, had lamented that there was no serious improvement in services rendering at the government’s health centers.
“We do appreciate Government for the health insurance scheme but we have problem with our government hospitals, most especially UNIMED teaching hospital, complaints have been coming from our people that they have not be good in attending to civil servants.
“The Government medicine store has been empty, the health centers have not delivered, we paid for the services, our money are being deducted monthly, we demand that the health centers give us the rightful service, let them be up and doing, We did not regret to key into this scheme, they should not allow us to,” Amoko said.
While responding to the NLC agitation on proper health service, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Niran Ikuomola said all complaints would be looked into.
He appealed to the stakeholders to keep supporting the contributory health insurance initiative for better health care delivery.
