The Federal Capital Territory Administration has launched the enrollment of pregnant women into the FCT Health Insurance Scheme.

The FCTA also launched the distribution of free delivery kits to the pregnant women enrolled in the scheme.

The launch held in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development on Thursday in Abuja, is one of the efforts of the administration to reduce maternal and child mortality in the territory.

Speaking, the Minister of State for FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud said, the administration will extend the health insurance coverage to the formal and informal sectors.

Mahmoud, who was represented by her Chief of Staff, Dr Abdullahi Kauran-Mata, noted that the insurance scheme will ensure every resident has access to quality healthcare services without any financial shock.

She warned the Health Maintenance Organisations against delays in the releasing funds and for other services to hospitals.

“What this means is that funds are now available that will enable everyone on the scheme to have access to quality healthcare services without any financial shock,” she said.

The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Health Services and Environment Secretariat, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe stated that health insurance is a priority for the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

Fasawe said the dedication to the health insurance scheme by the Minister aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda, which emphasises the administration’s commitment to ensuring that no pregnant woman dies due to childbirth.

“Health insured is health assured. It is an abomination for any pregnant woman to die due to childbirth complications. It is not only during delivery that women have complications, at times it occurs after delivery. It has been documented that there are post-natal infections that these pregnant women have that they don’t treat and these infections can lead to death.

“Now the insurance scheme covers antenatal care of the pregnant woman and it covers them during delivery. During delivery, we have added an innovation- the safe delivery kit, having realised that there are many women who go to Traditional Birth Attendants and these packs here are absolutely sterilised and the things inside protect the mother, the child and the caregiver.

“The essence of this is to encourage pregnant women to register for health insurance, this pack ordinarily would cost about N50,000 and the normal practice before now is when you come for delivery, they would list everything in here and ask you to go and buy them, but now we are giving it out for free once you are registered on our health insurance scheme,” she explained.

The Mandate Secretary noted that every pregnant woman in the FCT who cannot afford to pay for health insurance will be registered under the vulnerable group for free.

“Already in Abuja, antenatal care is free of charge, delivery is not free, but the essence of today is to let people know that even if you cannot afford to pay for health insurance, that would be taken care of, we will register you for free, even the baby would be taken care of for a year under the health insurance scheme,” she added.

In her goodwill message, the FCT State Director of the USAID Integrated Health Programme, Dr Frances-Lois Adewumi pledged the agency’s commitment in supporting the FCT in maternal and child care.

She said with a premium payment of N13,500 yearly, every resident can have access to good quality services under the scheme.

The Director of FHIS, Dr Ahmed Danfulani mentioned that the scheme was launched in 2009 with the goal of improving the health of FCT residents through the provision of affordable, accessible and quality healthcare services.

“To date, we have enrolled over 160,000 beneficiaries from the formal and informal sector as well as vulnerable persons like pregnant women, the elderly and the indigents. All of our beneficiaries can access quality healthcare services from over 200 public and private healthcare facilities across the six area councils,” he said.

On her part, the Mandate Secretary, Women Affairs of the FCTA, Mrs Adebayo Benjamins-Laniyi said the renewed hope initiative of the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu is to ensure that all women in the 62 wards of the FCT are reached with health services.

She also noted that the ministers in the FCT Wike are committed to the renewed hope agenda of President Tinubu on universal health coverage.