By Bakary Touray Jr
The Gambia Government will introduce National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2020, so stated the country Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs during his recent Budget Speech at the National Assembly in Banjul.
Minister Mambury Njie informed the people’s Representatives that, the initiative would be rolled out to the public in January 2020. The aim is to enable the most-hard working people and their families the needed medical attention when they fall sick.
Revealing that the NHIS Bill has been drafted and is undergoing rigorous technical review by different stakeholders including development partners, Njie said the Bill when enacted, would serve as a governing organ for the scheme.
The Minister elaborated:”The authority will further establish regional offices across the country to ensure easy access to the services. NHIS Membership Cards will be prepared by the authority to enroll beneficiaries into the scheme and will target both poor and vulnerable members of the society”
To make the scheme amenable to the needy, it would pay for children under five years of age, persons in need of ante-natal, delivery and post-natal services, persons living with mental illnesses, differently-abled persons, pensioners and the poor, as Njie enunciated,
He added: “Additionally, government remains resolute in the provision of free immunization services to all children in the Gambia and has contributed D32 million towards the services.
“Currently, the Extended Program on Immunization (EPI), is vaccinating against twelve (12) diseases such as Hepatitis B, Measles, Yellow Fever among others”.
He noted that in efforts to revitalize and implement the concept of Primary Health Care (PHC),the Ministry of Health has established a unit that coordinates and monitors all primary healthcare services in the country, and that currently, PHC outreach to villages increased from 634 to 722.
He also said the Health and Agriculture Ministries are implementing a Maternal and Child Nutrition and Health Results Project (MCNHRP) in order to improve nutrition in maternal and child health.
The Finance Ministry head told the Assembly that, the Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) has also been expanded to 91 communities to cover 1,032 communities.
The project, he acknowledged, has also supported 2,400 vulnerable households to build their resilience against food insecurity with an accompany cash transfer for a period of 12 months.
“The National Farmers’ Association (NAFA) Cash Project is an Unconditional Cash Transfer Scheme that will be implemented over a period of three years.
“The project seeks to reach a target population of 15,600 extreme poor households who will be selected by using a Proxi-Means Test and Community validation in the poorest 20 Districts of The Gambia,” Njie echoed before the country’s lawmakers.
