Anambra launches health insurance policy, free eye screening for citizens

GOVERNOR of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has announced the launch of a Public-Private Partnership driven health insurance policy for citizens of the state.

The governor made the announcement while commissioning a newly renovated Guinness Eye Hospital in Onitsha last Friday.

He said that the health insurance scheme will be funded by the government and citizens of the state in diaspora and will ensure that medical workers get paid for treating patients.

Obiano also unveiled the state’s plan to organise free eye screening services for citizens at the re-commissioned Guinness Eye Hospital.

Commending Guinness Nigeria for revamping the eye hospital, the governor admonished people of the state on the importance of eye screening, urging them to regularly check their eyes to prevent visual impairment and blindness.

He also said that the Guinness Eye Hospital located in Onitsha will discourage medical tourism as indigenes will not need to travel abroad for eye problems.

He said, “This auspicious project is an important subject, which ties into one of the key enablers of my government. I would like to heartily commend Guinness Nigeria for their huge investment and commitment to providing world class eye care solutions across the country. As a testament, this facility and the equipment, which Guinness Nigeria Plc has bequeathed to the Eye Hospital ranks among the very best in the world. Therefore, Anambra indigenes do not need to go abroad again to get treated for eye problems”.

Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director, Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital, Professor Anthony Igwegbe, stated that the rebuilt Eye Hospital, which formerly treated over 850 people yearly, can now cater for over 15,000 patients with a manpower system of 144 members of staff.

He noted that the hospital has enjoyed continuous support from Guinness Nigeria through subventions such as financial contributions, state-of-the-art optical equipment and various infrastructural upgrades.

And in his goodwill message at the ceremony, Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Peter Ndegwa, who made a donation of a five million naira worth of eye equipment to the hospital, remarked that the re-commissioning of the eye hospital was to sustain excellent eye care service delivery in Nigeria.