By Joseph Akanbi
The Speaker of the State of Osun House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, has called for compulsory health insurance for every citizen so as to meet the universal health coverage goals.
Owoeye’s call formed part of his opening remarks at a UHC event organized by a USAID Health + project which held inside the House of Assembly chambers.
Rt. Hon. Owoeye said “we must begin steps towards making quality healthcare available and affordable to our people in both the rural and urban areas.”
“The data from the NHIS enrolment after 15yrs of establishment also shows that it may take us another 280years to achieve Universal Health Coverage, however I must commend the efforts by State Governments to get involved by establishing Health Insurance Agency to get more people covered and achieve UHC goals.”
“We as legislators will begin to look at the possibility of making health insurance compulsory as this to me is one of the only ways to achieve UHC.” he added
The Speaker who expressed concerns over Osun’s growing population of 5.1m people, said there is an urgent need for us to build our current institutions so as to meet the challenges of our future.
Owoeye later expressed confidence that our broken PHC system will be unbroken and our healthcare system becoming enviable in the comity of nations.