ASHIA Sensitizes COOU Students On Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme, As Acting VC, Omenugha Sets To Enroll Students

Anambra State Health Insurance Agency (ASHIA) has sensitized the students of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam campus on Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP).

Addressing the students in the campus, the Managing Director of ASHIA, Dr. Simeon Onyemaechi who revealed that they had already sensitized Uli campus students said that with the coming onboard of the Acting Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Kate Omenugha, she reached out to the agency to ensure that COOU students both at Igbariam and Uli campuses, as well as medical students in Awka, are brought onboard into the Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme which is the standard in Nigeria for every student in tertiary institution to be able to be treated with quality healthcare in the University’s medical center and also have access to a range of medical benefits when school is not in session.

According to Dr. Onyemaechi, when a student equally required services that the university’s medical center cannot provide, instead of going home, such student could be referred to the agency’s secondary facilities for adequate care, adding that Prof. Omenugha has packaged the programme in such a way that it could not attract any extra cost from the students.

The ASHIA boss further explained that what the agency has done was to sensitize the students to know their rights in the scheme, their benefits, range of illnesses the scheme covers among others, assuring that ASHIA is ready to give the students quality health care in their school and outside the school, saying that the scheme will end the era whereby students pay for medical bills in their school fees and wil not be able to get proper treatment.

He pointed out that about 231,000 residents of Anambra are currently enrolled into the scheme, informing the students that in order to ensure that their medical centres are well equiped to serve them better, the agency has already taken inventories of the equipment that are needed at both Uli and Igbariam campuses of the university, which ASHIA will buy for their medical centres to provide basic medical services.

Appreciating ASHIA for a job well done, the students’ Attorney General, Comrade Josephat Ezehiri, promised that the students welcome the programme with joy, as it will help them to get adequate healthcare without spending their scarce resources.