By SUMAILA OGBAJE

The Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle, has said that no fewer than 110,000 military retirees have been enrolled into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Matawalle made the disclosure during an interactive session with military retirees groups on Thursday in Abuja.

Represented by Dr. Olajide Johnson, the Director, Health Services, Matawalle restated the Federal Government’s commitment towards providing adequate healthcare for both serving and retired military personnel.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the meeting is: “Advancing the Health Care of Military Veterans”.

The meeting was convened by the Defence Health Maintenance Ltd (DHML), the Health Maintenance Organisation incharge of healthcare provision for military personnel under the NHIS.

The minister said that the Federal Government initially enrolled about 20,000 military retirees when the insurance scheme took off.

“Today, we have enrolled no fewer than 110,000 retirees, and the enrollment is still ongoing.

“The essence is to take care of the health needs of our military personnel after active service. I think that our veterans are lucky,” he said.

Matawale urged the beneficiaries to make adequate use of the scheme in the interest of their health.

“It is your right to be catered for at this period of your lives. At this stage what takes most of your money is your health.

“We are happy that the narrative has changed, the government now caters for you even after you have served the nation,” Matawalle said.

The minister commended DHML for giving priority to the healthcare needs of military retirees in its insurance package.

In his speech, the Managing Director of DHML, Rear Adm. Bayo Afolayan (Rtd), said that the essence of the meeting was to educate the military retirees on the benefits of the NHIS.

Olaniyan said that military retirees would access the health insurance package without deductions from their pensions

“We are here to enlighten you about the scheme. It is not true that your pension is being tempered with, nobody is touching any retiree’s money, it is free.

“The package is for you, your spouses and children, and you will enjoy it for life,” he said.

Also speaking, the Head, Administration, DHML, Cdr. Tunde Alabi (Rtd), noted that there was appreciable awareness about the scheme, and more retired military personnel had come out to enrol.

He said that DHML was committed to ensuring quality healthcare delivery for the military veterans, and urged them to take advantage of the scheme. (NAN)

Update news