GOHEALTH PAID A FAMILIARIZATION VISIT TO GOMBE MEDIA STATIONS
In its efforts to adequately sensitize the residents of Gombe State ahead of the commencement of the State Contributory Healthcare Scheme, officials of Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (GoHealth) led by the Team Lead, Dr Abubakar Musa Yahaya paid a courtesy visit to key players in the media industry in the State which include Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Gombe, Amana Radio station, Gombe Media corporation and Vision Radio Gombe.
In his address, the Team Lead of GoHealth, Dr. Abubakar Musa, noted that the media stations have been doing a wonderful job to the people of Gombe State and as well carved a niche for themselves, thus informing the reason for the advocacy visit.
He noted that upon coming to office the government of Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya were faced with unacceptably poor health statistics. For instance, 76% of our health expenditure is borne out of pocket -meaning most people have to pay for healthcare at the point of service utilization and this tends to reduce the accessibility and increase poverty tendencies among the people. He further added that in the northeastern region, 63% of households suffer catastrophic health expenditure (meaning they spend more than 10% of their income on healthcare).
In line with the State Government's promise to provide quality, efficient and affordable healthcare, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya made giant strides to improve the quality of health facilities and boost the human resource capacity.
Dr. Abubakar further explained that despite having a standard health facility with all the necessary man power and equipment, if people cannot access the service, or are denied access because they lack the financial capacity to pay, the purpose of such strides is defeated. That was why the Governor moved for the creation of the Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Scheme. The scheme encourages people to enroll into one of the various forms of prepayment arrangements available through the scheme where people contribute a token amount annually and then do not have to bother about paying for the services when they or their loved ones fall sick.