-Dr EWELIKE DESCRIBES OICs AS THE REAL IMPLEMENTORS OF THE SCHEME
The Executive Secretary/CEO of Imo State Health Insurance Agency, Dr. Uche Ewelike (PhD) has commended the efforts of the Officers In-Charge (OICs) of the Primary Health Care Facilities across the 305 INEC Wards and 27 LGAs in Imo State for their efforts and tremendous results since the Activation of Access to Care for BHCPF.
Dr Ewelike made this commendation on the 16th of May, 2023 during the training of the OICs and the unveiling of the ImoCare handbook for Informal Sector Social Health Insurance Programs to Stakeholders.
While addressing the OICs during the event, Dr Ewelike described them as the real implementors of the scheme following their interface with over 12,000 beneficiaries who have accessed care in the last month since the commencement of service delivery for BHCP in the State across the 305 INEC Wards.
The renowned Health Economist explained that the attainment of Universal Health Coverage is largely dependent on two key areas namely technical capacity and political will and for this same singular reason His Excellency, Dis. Senator Hope Uzodimma the Executive Governor of Imo State personally sorted and requested for him to drive and coordinate the State Social Health Insurance Scheme.
Moving on, he urged them to see their jobs as an opportunity to turn around the health system of Imo State as they are going to be interfacing and giving treatments to the 66,003 vulnerable persons already billed to access free health care services under the BHCPF in the 27 LGAs of Imo State.
Dr. Ewelike disclosed that the Imo State Health Insurance Agency has the technical skills, capacity and political support to deliver on the goals and objectives of the Scheme which is in line with the vision and aspirations of the Shared Prosperity Agenda of the 3R Shared Prosperity Administration of His Excellency, Dist. Sen. Hope Uzodimma for a prosperous and healthy Imo State.
On the above plank, Dr Ewelike thanked His Excellency, Dist. Sen. Hope Uzodimma profusely for providing the technical skills and political will in Imo State in achieving UHC and the Honourable Commissioner of Health, Hon. Dr Prosper Ohayagha and Honourable Commissioner of Health Insurance Dr Bathy Okorochukwu for their tireless efforts in ensuring that State Social Health Insurance Scheme work in Imo as he charged all the OICs to ensure strict adherence to the implementation guidelines of the BHCPF in line with Fiscal Discipline and eschew behaviours or practices that will truncate the objectives and goals of the scheme.
He bemoaned Imo’s lag on the implementation of the scheme considering when funds were disbursed to the State for the delivery of health services to the poor and vulnerable while he assured the OICs of beating the records of all the States in the country and setting new ones such as the record-breaking enrollments of 66,003 of Imo persons into the scheme upon his resumption of Office being the highest single enrollment in the country since the inception of the program.
He further disclosed that at the end of the training, the Agency will unveil the ImoCare handbook to Stakeholders; a book which would serve as a compendium of operations of the Informal Sector Health Insurance program designed to target those who are not captured under the BHCPF but can pay N15,000 as individuals to access health care services.
Among the many dignitaries who graced this event were in no particular order included the HealthCare Providers, a Representative of MOC BHCPF Secretariat Abuja, WHO Imo State, Representatives of NHIA and many others.
Result is a Must 
