This month, Ivory Coast opened mobile enrollment centers for its universal health care program. The program has drawn criticism since it was introduced in 2019 due to challenges with benefit access.Samuel Touffet is disappointed after visiting the mobile center to receive an update on the program’s coverage.
“I’m not really pleased with the card. There are a lot of pharmacies where using the card is not accepted.Additionally, the hospital tells us the card is invalid when we bring it in. Thus, we are unsure of the card’s actual value.
Bruno Agnissan is uncertified and possesses a Universal Health Card, but he visited a mobile enrolment center in Abidjan to inquire about its usage.
“No, this is only for civil servants,” the drugstore stated when I showed them the voucher when we got there. that it won’t be effective for each of us separately.
He claims that because the hospital ran short of one of the medications required for the therapy, treating his son’s straightforward case of malaria became difficult under the program.He claims he was unable to locate a drugstore that would accept the voucher, despite being instructed to get the medication at a nearby pharmacy and handed a voucher that should have paid the cost.Health Minister Pierre Dimba is optimistic that the program may overcome its challenges and eventually become the primary insurance for all Ivorian citizens, with private insurance serving as a supplement.
Right now, we’re thinking about whether this card could be used in private venues. In the end, it’s a special health coverage platform that our nation will have; if you have private insurance, you will share the same platform as the basic insurance that will be available to everyone. Other insurance will only be complimentary, just like in the wealthy nations that are all familiar with.
The goal of universal health coverage, or CMU as it is referred to locally, is to pay for 70% of a person’s medical expenses for every 1,000 West African CFA francs ($1.65).
Individuals and families can register with the mobile enrollment centers, which also print cards on the spot. This allows the beneficiaries to begin getting care right away at any hospital, clinic, or pharmacy in the country.
Because many people in the informal sector work long hours, the authorities said that the centers will be able to reach those who are unable to visit standard enrolment centers.
Though the administration continues to be optimistic, just 40% of the population is enrolled in a program that Ivorians have harshly criticized as being ineffectual.