Globacom, total telecommunications service provider has moved to boost access to quality health care among the Nigerian population with the unveiling of a National Mobile Health Insurance Product.
Globacom’s Regional Chief Marketing Officer, Ashok Israni said during the unveiling of the product in Abuja with the officials of the company and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in attendance that the package was developed in partnership with NHIS to take quality health care to millions of Nigerians through their telephone handsets.
On how to access the service, Israni explained that Glo subscribers are required to dial *616# on their mobile phones after which they will be instantly admitted to the Glo Health platform, where they can follow a simple registration process.
“Once they subscribe, Globacom customers will be able to use their mobile phones for pre-defined medical treatment for which affordable premiums are remitted through the subscribers’ mobile phone,” he said.
He added that the platform guarantees Globacom customers and other Nigerians free medical consultation and medication in over 8,000 hospitals in the country. The package comes with supply of drugs free of charge from NHIS accredited operators across the country for subscribers who are consistent in the payment of their premiums.
“There are millions of Nigerians yet to tap into the immense benefits of health insurance. This initiative will open a viable avenue for some of these people to come under the health insurance coverage, enabling them to sign up for one of the many Health Management Organisations accommodated in the scheme,” Israni said.
He explained that the premiums have been deliberately made affordable for virtually everyone, adding that subscribers can pay N35 per day, N250 per week or N1000 per month to qualify to benefit from the mobile insurance package.
“The beauty of health insurance is that it takes away the burden of worrying whether you will have any money left in your account or in your wallet when next you fall sick. With health insurance cover, anytime you fall sick, you can rest assured that you will have access to quality medical treatment even if you have nothing left in your wallet or in your bank account,” he said.
He said the product will go a long way in realizing the national objective of extending health insurance to Nigerians regardless of their financial status or social class.
“Together with our partners, Salt & Einstein MTS and NHIS, Globacom is committed to achieving universal health coverage for all Nigerians within the shortest time possible,” Israni concluded.
Also speaking, the Chairman of S & E MTS, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, said the scheme will help to neutralize the phobia of many Nigerians for the cost of health care. He said this fear usually prevents many Nigerians from going to the hospital when they fall sick.
According to him, with the new product, that fear has been removed, lauded Globacom efforts in developing the product is commendable.
The then helmsman of NHIS, Dr. Femi Thomas, in his own remarks, lauded Globacom for providing its infrastructure for the project, stressing that the scheme spreads the cost of health care among subscribers such that the financial burden is virtually lifted off.
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