The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has launched a health insurance scheme aimed at improving access to healthcare services for journalists in Abuja.
Speaking at the launch at the council's headquarters in Abuja at the weekend, the president of the NUJ, Alhassan Yahaya, described the initiative as a major step towards addressing the welfare challenges faced by journalists across the country.
Yahaya said the introduction of health insurance for journalists was part of a promise he made during his campaign to improve the welfare of media practitioners.
According to him, research shows that less than one per cent of journalists in Nigeria currently enjoys any form of health insurance coverage.
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"Insurance is critical to our job. Through health insurance, we will be able to reduce maternal deaths and significantly cut out-of-pocket medical expenses by up to 95 per cent," he said.
The NUJ president also noted that expanding health insurance coverage among journalists would contribute to Nigeria's efforts to achieve universal health coverage, adding that fewer than 20 million Nigerians were currently covered by any form of health insurance.
He commended the leadership of the NUJ FCT Council for driving the initiative and urged journalists to take advantage of the scheme by enrolling themselves and their families.
Mandate Secretary of the FCT Health Services and Environment Secretariat, Adedolapo Fasawe, said access to basic healthcare was a necessity and not a luxury.
She added that preventive healthcare through insurance would help citizens manage health conditions early and avoid complicated medical cases.
Fasawe announced that the FCT Administration had already facilitated health insurance coverage for 480 journalists out of the about 800 registered members of the NUJ in the territory.
"As of today, about 65 per cent of journalists in the FCT are covered under the scheme, and it is our goal that by next month, 100 per cent of them will be enrolled," she said.
She also disclosed that the FCT administration had introduced free healthcare services for pregnant and vulnerable women in the territory, covering antenatal care, delivery and cesarean section.
Earlier, the chairman of NUJ FCT Council, Grace Ike, described the launch as a historic milestone for journalists in the territory.
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She said the initiative was the first time in the council's 41-year history that a dedicated health insurance programme had been introduced for journalists.
Ike noted that journalists often serve as first responders in reporting national issues and therefore deserve adequate healthcare protection.
She commended the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Information, Media and Publicity, Akin Rotimi Jr., the FCT Health Secretariat and other stakeholders for supporting the programme.
