The Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP) has sought a partnership with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers State chapter, to expand access to health insurance for local government workers, their dependents, and rural communities across the state.
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of RIVCHPP, Dr. Vetty Agala, made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the Chairman of ALGON in Rivers State and Mayor of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, Hon. Allwell Ihunda.
Dr. Agala said collaboration with local government councils would provide a faster and more effective channel for enrolling residents, particularly those in rural communities and vulnerablel groups, into the state’s health insurance scheme.
She urged the ALGON chairman to encourage other local government chairmen to embrace the programme, noting that RIVCHPP was established under Law No. 3 of 2020 and became operational in 2024.
According to her, the agency has enrolled more than 160,000 residents who currently access affordable healthcare services across the state.
The RIVCHPP boss disclosed that the agency’s network includes 205 primary healthcare centres, 23 general hospitals, 45 private hospitals and two tertiary hospitals, providing primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare services to enrollees.
Dr. Agala also commended the Mayor of Port Harcourt for his commitment to healthcare initiatives, adding that RIVCHPP’s fully digitalised operations and skilled workforce have positioned it among the fastest-improving state health insurance agencies in the country.
Responding, Hon. Ihunda praised RIVCHPP’s efforts to make quality healthcare more affordable and accessible to Rivers residents.
He expressed his administration’s readiness to partner with the agency but advised RIVCHPP to engage the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to ensure workers are adequately informed about the proposed five per cent contribution from their basic salaries towards the health insurance scheme.
The ALGON chairman also promised to invite RIVCHPP to make a presentation at the association’s forthcoming retreat, where local government chairmen and principal officers would be briefed on the scheme.
The visit concluded with the presentation of RIVCHPP promotional materials to the mayor.
