By Kemi Olatunde

The Director-General of the Ondo State Contributory Health Commission (ODCHC), Dr. Abiodun Oyeneyin, has stressed the need for collaboration among all major stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of affordable healthcare to residents of Ondo State through the commission’s healthcare schemes.

This, he said, aims at achieving universal health coverage in the state.

He stated this at a stakeholders’ engagement on the Ondo State Contributory Health Scheme (ODCHS) for stakeholders in the South Senatorial District of the state, in Ore.

According to him, in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the state, the Commission has a mandate of providing health insurance cover for all residents of the state, listing the Abiyamo Scheme—for pregnant women and children under five years of age, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund Program (BHCPFP)—Ilera Loro Scheme—for widows, the elderly, retirees, women of reproductive age, sickle cell warriors, etc., the Orange Health Insurance Scheme (ORANGHIS) Formal—for public servants and political office holders, and ORANGHIS Informal—for the informal and organised private sector as the health insurance plans of the state’s contributory health scheme.

He explained that clustering stakeholders in the Southern Senatorial District was to ensure proper understanding of the health insurance scheme, further collaboration, and sensitisation of the newly flagged-off ORANGHIS-Informal sector scheme by the state Governor, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa.

Oyeneyin thanked Governor Aiyedatiwa for his support in ensuring that residents have health insurance cover, while also appreciating the leadership of the health sector, labour union leaders, and all stakeholders for their synergy and cooperation.

He hinted that, in the recently published national statistics on health, Ondo State has the lowest infant mortality rate across the country and congratulated the providers, noting that ODCHC was recently awarded one of the best-performing MDAs in the state during Public Service Week by the Head of Service of Ondo State, saying, “The award is a recognition and testament of the services they deliver at the facilities.”

Goodwill messages were delivered by Pharm. Amos Ayegbusi, Executive Secretary of the Ondo State Drugs and Health Commodities Management Agency (ODHCMA), Dr. Iwaola, Director of Medical and Dental Services, Hospitals’ Management Board, representing the Permanent Secretary, and the Chairman, NULGE, Odigbo Local Government Area.

There were presentations by Pharm. Ofiyesinka Ebikeeyen, Head of Network Management, on capitation payment at a glance and revised tariffs; Mrs. Kemisola Oni, Head of Claims Management, on claims management processes; Dr. Olamiji Ibitoye, Head of Case Management/Program Manager, Abiyamo Scheme, on an overview of the Abiyamo Scheme; and Mr. Gbenga Olubodun, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, on encounter data and BHCPFP.

A panel session was organised after the presentations to address knowledge gaps in the operationalisation of the Ondo State Contributory Health Scheme.