By Idanye Oruigoni
The Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP) is a premium health insurance agency with the mandate of providing quality healthcare services and financial risk protection for residents of the state.
RIVCHPP, as it is popularly known, came into being through the Rivers State Health Insurance Act 2021 that was signed into law by the immediate past administration of Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, but was established and made functional by Governor Amaopusenibo Siminialayi Fubara’s administration last year.
For the benefit of hindsight, RIVCHPP, as a health insurance agency was created and authorised to function in order to implement the health insurance law enacted in 2021.
In approving and authorising the functionality of the agency, Sir Siminialayi Fubara appointed Dr. Vetty Rolegherighan Agala as its Acting Executive Secretary, provided an office space and everything required for the agency to take off on a strong footing.
Following Governor Fubara’s authorisation for the health insurance agency to become functional, Dr. Agala and her team hit the ground running by taking the bull by the horn and setting the ball rolling in leaps and bounds.
As a health insurance agency, RIVCHPP is designed to ensure that everyone who lives and works in Rivers State, no matter their state of origin, have access to quality healthcare, when and where they need it, without suffering financial hardship.
Beginning with the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), which caters specifically to the health needs of those designated as vulnerable persons by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), the agency had not rested on its oars since its unveiling, churning out packages and programmes that would increase the social insurance pool and enable more residents of the state to enjoy bumper and quality healthcare services.
In less than one year of its existence, RIVCHPP has facilitated the reduction of morbidity and mortality rate in the state without pauperizing the residents who enjoy the health benefits.
It is worthy of note to state that, as an agency, RIVCHPP commenced its work on March 27, 2024 and till date has enrolled over 80,000 beneficiaries in its Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) of which about 40,000 have been accessing different forms of quality healthcare services across the 23 local government areas of the state.
Besides those who have been so enrolled, covering children below five years of age, pregnant mothers, the aged above 60 years of age, people living with disabilities (PWDs), chronically ill persons, among other beneficiaries, the agency also carried out over 50 surgeries for residents of the state in commemoration of Governor Fubara’s 50th birthday anniversary.
By and large, RIVCHPP has a vision to be a premier state social health insurance provider in Nigeria and Africa, delivering premium financial risk protection to Rivers people, with a mandate to achieve universal health coverage by providing risk protection for all Rivers people, especially its vulnerable population.
In pushing towards realising its vision and mandate, RIVCHPP has rolled various packages to widen its pool, increase the universal health coverage and reduce the mortality and morbidity rate in the state.
RIVCHPP, being ably steered by Dr. Agala, under the leadership of the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Chidinma Oreh, with unflinching support from Governor Fubara, as it begins its second year journey, has started taking on different levels of advocacy, collaborations and sensitization programmes to increase the health seeking behaviour of the residents of Rivers State, offer them quality healthcare services without financial strains at the point of accessing needed healthcare and to increase the pool of beneficiaries from where resources could be generated to ease delivery of the agency’s mandate and goals.
It is the desire of RIVCHPP to have civil servants, who are not among the vulnerable population to also enjoy the health benefits that the agency has made available for all Rivers residents that propelled the Acting Executive Secretary, Dr. Vetty Agala and her management team to pay an advocacy visit to the Head of Rivers State Civil Service, Dr. George Nwaeke to get his buy-in and support in bringing the state’s civil servants on board the health insurance scheme.
Presently, RIVCHPP is carrying out one of its flagship packages, code named Simjara package, where enrollees are to pay N15,000 only to cover them for one year, while they are entitled to still enjoy the same quality bumper healthcare services, including surgeries when so referred.
Agala had explained that the agency initiated the Simjara package basically for artisans and people in the informal sector to appreciate Governor Fubara’s policies and interest in the health and wellbeing of Rivers residents.
For the love the Governor has for the health of Rivers people, the office brought the package, where it augments the ordinary residents with low and irregular incomes. The RIVCHPP also has several other packages on its stable to increase the universal health coverage, increase the health seeking behaviour of Rivers residents and enrich the people financially and health-wise.
To achieve these, Agala and her team are leading aggressive collaborative advocacies to chairmen of the 23 local government areas of the state and other stakeholders. To that extent, RIVCHPP is working hard to expand universal health coverage and reduce all forms of morbidity and mortality in the state.
Without mincing words, RIVCHPP’s emergence as a health insurance agency in Rivers State has saved the lives of most Rivers residents, just as the beneficiaries have been saved money, stress and undue emotional trauma that come with lack of financial resources to access healthcare when they need it.
As RIVCHPP continues to touch lives in different positive ways, Rivers people are optimistic that the gains in the coming years will be richer and broader, as the agency is expected to grow into a truly premier state social insurance provider in Rivers State, Nigeria and Africa.
Oruigoni, Information and Media Officer of RIVCHPP, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State
