Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa announced on Monday that retirees will be enrolled at no cost in the Orange Health Insurance Scheme. The state also approved a N1 billion hospital fund and became the first to implement a new health worker salary structure.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa made the disclosure at the maiden national summit of State Social Health Insurance Agencies held at the International Culture and Event Centre in Akure. He said the state government would cover all costs for pensioners under the Orange Health Insurance Scheme due to rising medical expenses in old age. Aiyedatiwa also announced a N1 billion Hospital Intervention Fund to expand and modernize facilities. He noted that the state is the first to adopt the new salary structure for health workers, which aims to reduce brain drain. Ekiti State Commissioner for Health Dr. Oyebanji Filani praised Ondo for recording Nigeria’s lowest rates, with neonatal mortality at three per 1,000 live births and infant mortality at eight per 1,000, according to National Demographic and Health Survey data.