BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Registrar of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON), Dr Yakubu Baba signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Insurance Coverage in Abuja on Friday.
At least, 148, 950 Environmental Health Practitioners are set to receive free insurance coverage, courtsey of Mutual Benefits Assurance (MBA) Plc.
The Registrar of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) Dr Yakubu Baba stated this on Friday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Council and MBA on Insurance Coverage in Abuja.
A breakdown of the scheme revealed that 650 staff of EHCON, over 108, 300 students of Colleges of Health Technology and 40, 000 Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) would be enrolled in the scheme.
Baba noted that the first set of the beneficiaries are the 650 staff serving at the headquarters and state offices irrespective of their designations, followed by students in the 361 Colleges of Health Technology and EHOs.
He disclosed that it is essential to provide the enabling environment and protection for the staff, adding that the essence of insurance protection was to consolidate on the gains of rebranding environmental health practise in Nigeria.
Group Chairman of Mutual Benefits Assurance (MBA) Plc, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi ( Left) endorsing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EHCON on Insurance Coverage while the Registrar of EHCON, Dr Yakubu Baba (Right) watches with keen interest.
The registrar described the intervention as lifesaving opportunity, noting that it is the first time a corporate entity would be offering insurance to the entire staff of the council at no cost.
"This is also the first time a corporate entity is extending the offer to the students who will be members of the profession after the completion of their training, by giving them 50 percent insurance cover.
"We have lost a good number of staff through accident and injury while discharging their official responsibilities, so the package will provide succor to the council," he added.
Baba hinted that the package would include medical treatment for staff involved in accident or payment of insurance benefit to staff who died in the line of duty.
He said that the essence of extending the package to practising EHOs is due to daily confrontation with occupational hazards as Frontline workers, either through accident, injury or infectious diseases.
The registrar described the partnership as a new dawn in the history of the council, as it would be a win-win situation in line with the development agenda of the new APC-led administration.
While describing the intervention as timely, he pointed out that it would bring relief to the council, instead of running helter skelter in search of funds to settle medical bills of staff involved in an accident.
Staff of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria and Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc in a group photograph on Friday in Abuja.
The Group Chairman of MBA, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi said that the package, which would be three times of the annual salary of the beneficiaries, would be paid in the event of death or medical treatment for accident victims.
"We will not be investing anything new because we already have a license to do insurance in Nigeria but it is an innovative approach that will add value to environmental health practise.
“A lot of things happen to the council staff when on official duty and they find it difficult getting funds to cushion the effects of such challenges.
“Whether you are a junior staffer or a director, if anything happens, the benefit they will get is three times their annual salary," he added.
Ogunbiyi hinted that MBA had already incorporated medical tourism package for the executive management staff in the case of any unforseen circumstances.
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