On the 5th of April 2023, the Right to Health Cluster of the USAID-SCALE Project anchored by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) organised a town hall meeting on health insurance uptake in Sokoto State. The meeting was held at Dankani Guest Palace Hotel, Sokoto, Sokoto State, and was designed to increase health insurance coverage in the state.

The Right to Health project hopes to use health insurance in Sokoto state to increase access to healthcare services for residents and to provide financial protection against the cost of healthcare.
The meeting had three objectives; to provide sensitization and create awareness on the benefits of health insurance, to provide a forum for dialogue, interaction, and accountability between the regulator, service providers, health insurance enrollees, prospective enrollees, and other beneficiaries of the compulsory health insurance regime in Sokoto State, and to have a stakeholder agreement on strategies for increasing health insurance penetration.

The town hall had 85 participants in attendance, of which 61 were male, 24 were female, and six were persons with disabilities (PWDs). Participants came from various organizations such as the Sokoto State House of Assembly Health Committee, Sokoto State Ministry of Health, Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Usman Dan Fodio University Teaching Hospital, Ministry of Information, National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Traders Union, Council of Traditional Rulers, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), HISBAH, ECWA, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), NTA Sokoto, Garkuwa FM, Rima TV, and Integrated Health Project (IHP).

Dr. Abdulkadri Hassan, the Principal Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sokoto State Office, spoke on the various health insurance programs of the NHIA, emphasizing the Group, Individual and Family Social Health Insurance Program (GIFSHIP). He sensitized the audience and raised their awareness on the need to enroll for health insurance coverage. Abubakar Hassan, Director of Programs at the Sokoto State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (SOCHEMA), gave an update on the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund by SOCHEMA and sensitized the audience on the Community Based Contributory Health Care Scheme of SOCHEMA.

Participants gained increased awareness of the benefits of health insurance and the process of enrolling for coverage. Some participants expressed their desire to begin the enrollment process after the meeting.
All participating organizations agreed to disseminate the knowledge, awareness, and sensitization gained from the town hall meeting to members of their various groups. The Secretary-General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) committed to collaborating with NHIA and SOCHEMA to get the message of health insurance to the grassroots.

Civil society organizations, media, and other partners agreed to develop a work plan of action for increased sensitization and awareness on health insurance.
The town hall meeting was a success in increasing knowledge and awareness of the benefits of health insurance and in getting stakeholders to collaborate on strategies for increasing health insurance penetration in Sokoto State.

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) operates in Sokoto state AND offers various health insurance programmes, including the Group, Individual, and Family Social Health Insurance Programmes (GIFSHIP). In addition to the NHIA, the Sokoto State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (SOCHEMA) also operates a Basic Healthcare Provision Fund and a Community-Based Contributory Health Care Scheme. These programs provide options for individuals to come together as associations or cohesive groups to be registered for health insurance coverage.

Overall, the town hall meeting and other awareness-raising activities are being carried out by CSJ to increase knowledge and uptake of health insurance in Sokoto state.