UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE: NIGERIANS ARE ‘HEALTH CONSCIOUS BUT ALSO POCKET CONSCIOUS’ WHICH LIMITS CAPACITY TO FUND HEALTH – DR. IKUBESE
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UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE: NIGERIANS ARE ‘HEALTH CONSCIOUS BUT ALSO POCKET CONSCIOUS’ WHICH LIMITS CAPACITY TO FUND HEALTH – DR. IKUBESE
‘Health is wealth’ goes the popular mantra. Nigerians have been urged to prioritize their health despite the huge economic challenges that exist in the country.
Noting that Nigerians are mostly health conscious, foremost philanthropist and Chief Medical Director of Sckye Hospitals Limited, Dr. Thomas-Wilson Ikubese observed that the economic situation is making it difficult for them to pay attention to their health. This is why Dr. Ikubese is calling on governments across all sectors to prioritize universal health insurance as a way to bring quality healthcare services to Nigerians. The doctor gave this encouraging advice in an exclusive interview with the National Association of Online Security News Publishers, NAOSNP led by the President, Comrade Oki O. Samson.
Speaking on the healthcare of Nigerians, Dr. Ikubese stated:
‘Nigerians are health conscious people. We are health conscious but we are also pocket conscious. The pocket consciousness has limited our capacity to fund our health which now makes it look like we are not health conscious. You’ll see someone who is ill who will decide to take agbo (herbals) instead of going to the hospital because he knows he can’t afford the bill.’
‘That is why health insurance is the way to go, which is why I must commend the government of Ondo State. Former Governor of Ondo State, Aketi started the health insurance and Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is continuing along the path. About 2-3 weeks ago they launched the informal sector, so the artisan and market women are all buying into the Ondo State Health Insurance Scheme, so with that there wouldn’t be an excuse.’
The chief medical doctor who is into many humanitarian programs, helping the less privileged of the society and ensuring families have a ray of hope and happiness, Ikubese described what he does in the healthcare sector. ‘I started this scheme of special free health care for pregnant women with triplets sometime around 2004.
Providing free antenatal care, drugs for mother and child, we also provide free Caesarean sections for pregnant women with triplets. Every month each family that has triplet gets N30,000 per child monthly as a support for 1 year. We have quite a couple of them, I think about 2 are still in that scheme. There is a particular one that the kids are going to about 3 years now, he is a teacher in one of the secondary schools along Owo road. After one year we discovered that he still hasn’t balanced financially so I continued, second year we still paid the same N30,000 monthly and this is about the third year, we are still maintaining that. This is just to give support because he’s a teacher. The salary is not enough to take care of the family and the children.’
‘This is our own little contribution for pregnant women. This started in 2004.
It was the model that the former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko copied to start mother and child. We started before he started. We are colleagues. He is a medical doctor so he picked it, but unfortunately he couldn’t sustain it, you know government policies and all that.’
The 54-year-old doctor who has spent 24 years in practice spoke about Queen Naomi Ogunwusi’s humanitarian support to the Sckye Hospital. ‘She comes to visit patients on admission. She is benevolent to them and she gave out some gifts to some of those women. Queen Naomi was also there to support the woman who gave birth in prison. As part of our own support; I placed the child on free healthcare for as long as the child will need medical service and also the tuition fee of the child. I have been paying that every year, just paid for this session 2 weeks ago.’
On what they do for people or families that have benefited but keep coming back for assistance, the 54-year-old doctor hinted: ‘I don’t have a benchmark that says once the person has benefitted, he should not come again. On a daily basis, I’m busy with people for one assistance or the other. I just put as little as I can per time.’
‘I have a principle and the principle is that “if you want more, learn to give to the owners of what you have”. When you have an excess, the excess is not for you. The reason you have an excess is so that when the true owner comes for it, they can have it. Whatever you have, God the Maker gave you, He trust that you will be benevolent enough to give it to them, so that’s why I don’t have a limit. I do as much as I can because those are the owners, I have enough to take care of myself and my family. I am more or less like a steward. I’m holding it in trust for them. This is the principle of abundance. Once you understand that, the better it is for you.’
About those who publicize their humanitarian projects, the philanthropist Dr. Ikubese said: ‘I don’t think I have anything against those that publicize what they do, because I believe when you publicize you encourage others to want to follow that line. Sometimes I post one or 2 things on my social media handle, just to encourage people to follow the line. It is also to let others know that there are privileges like that. Many do not know that there are treatments like that.’
