Free Health Insurance, PHC Monitoring Top Agenda as Group Engages 75 Anambra Women Leaders
Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
Free health insurance enrolment and community monitoring of Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) took centre stage as SPARK II Project engaged 75 community women leaders in Anambra State.
The sensitization session, facilitated by the Social and Integral Development Centre (SIDEC) was held during the Anambra State Town Union Council (ASTUC) Women wing General Meeting on Tuesday.
The women were sensitized on the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), the Anambra State Health Insurance Agency (ASHIA) scheme, available PHC services, and the need for regular community oversight of health facilities.
The SPARK II Project is being implemented in Anambra State by Justice, Development and Peace Caritas (JDPC) Nnewi, Social and Integral Development Centre (SIDEC), Civil Rights Concern (CRC) and Community Empowerment Network (COMEN). The project focuses on strengthening community participation, accountability and responsiveness within the PHC system, with particular attention to maternal and child health, PHC financing and quality service delivery.
It is currently implemented across focal communities and PHCs in six Local Government Areas – Awka North and Idemili South in the Central Senatorial Zone; Aguata and Nnewi South in the South; and Ogbaru and Onitsha South in the North.
During the engagement, it emerged that many of the women leaders are not yet members of the Ward Development Committees (WDCs) in their communities. At the end of the session, they resolved to join the WDCs and actively participate in efforts to improve their PHCs.
Sharing her experience, the community women leader of Osumenyi in Nnewi South LGA, Ifeoma Oguaju, disclosed that in 2025, the Kingsley Obiukwu Foundation Free Health Insurance Program for aged women (50 years & above) sponsored the registration of 50 aged women from Osumenyi and 50 from Amichi community into the ASHIA scheme in partnership with ASHIA.
She also noted that three months ago, a Free Medical Outreach held at Pat Angelina Hospital, Umudim Amichi in June, registered more residents into the State Health Insurance Scheme.
Oguaju said the outreach was organised by Chief Chidi Anyaegbu and the Chief Executive Officer of Chisco Group, while Hon. Kingsley Obiukwu, frontline candidate for Nnewi North, Nnewi South and Ekwusigo Federal Constituency, provided refreshment for medical personnel, volunteers and beneficiaries.
She also said she was motivated to sensitize her community on the health insurance scheme after attending previous SPARK II activities that focused on ASHIA enrolment.
The women also used the platform to report challenges facing PHCs in their communities, including lack of electricity at Owerre Ezukala PHC in Nnewi South LGA and lack of staff quarters at Eziowelle PHC.
Other evidence gathered through SPARK II community monitoring points to interconnected challenges affecting PHC services, including shortages and uneven deployment of nurses, midwives and other frontline health workers, concerns around staff attendance and service quality, inadequate medicines, equipment and furniture, as well as infrastructure deficiencies such as leaking roof at Akwu-Ukwu PHC, expansion needs at Bridge Head PHC and staff accommodation requirements at Ebenator PHC.
It was agreed at the meeting that ASTUC Women would gather more information about the problems in community PHCs with pictorial evidence. The documented challenges will be shared with the Executive Secretary of the Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ASPHCDA) for action.
Through engagement with communities, WDCs, PHC Officers-in-Charge, health workers, Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and government stakeholders, SPARK II said it has continued to generate community-level evidence and practical accountability solutions to support ASPHCDA to improve PHC performance.
