Health Care: Insurance Companies to be Mandated to Cover Rural Farmers

It is a fact that seventy per cent of Nigerians are rural dwellers and their main occupation is farming which makes them an integral part of our society. This is because most most of the food needed for the well being of the urban dwellers are produced by farmers in the rural areas. When it comes to the challenges accessing affordable and quality health care services, the rural dwellers are the most hit.
It is with this view, Honourable Yusuf Bala Ikara, member of the House of Representatives, has not relented in his efforts at ensuring adequate and affordable health care services for the rural farmers.
Speaking with our Correspondent after a one day public hearing of a joint Committee on Rural and Primarily Health Care, hon. Ikara disclosed that recommendations are to be made to the federal government to compel some government insurance companies to deal with the inhabitants of the rural areas.
He also stated that the federal government is already proferring solutions to the problems of farmers not being captured in insurance, adding that the government need to do more to ensure that a functional Primary Health Care (PHC) is available to the rural dwellers.
“When it comes to the issue of healthcare, the problem is terrible as the PHC is not working. Some of our rural farmers travel 10-15 kilometers to get medical attention. The government need to do more to tackle this problem.
“We are going to urge our colleagues to support the recommendations in order to make it mandatory on the executive to implement such policy because it is a known fact that we cannot be where we are today without the rural farmers”, he said.
He assured that they are going to do everything possible to see that the lives of the common man is in a better shape.
Hon. Ikara is representing the good people of Ikara/Kubau federal constituency in the Green chamber of the National Assembly.