By Chukwudi Nwauba :
Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike says the Elderly Persons across the state will soon benefit from Gov. Charles Soludo’s health package in the state.
Dr. Obidike explained that the current administration is committed to improving the life of elderly people in the state through a health package that will help them to live healthy.
The commissioner gave the assurance to the members of the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) that paid him an advocacy visit in his office at the Jerome Udoji Secretariat Complex, Awka.
`I can assure you that we value elderly people in our state so much, that is one of the reasons in some of our hospitals we engage them because we still need their wealth of experience.
“We are as well very much proud of their contributions in our healthcare sector and soon they will equally benefit from the State government health package across the state.
“Our target is to enroll the elderly people in the state into the State Health Insurance Scheme because it will help them to access care whenever they are sick.’’
NSCC Co Chair Mrs. Iyom Josephine Anenih said that the body was established pursuant to the National Senior Citizens Centre Act 2017 with mandate to identify the needs of senior citizens and to cater for them.
Mrs. Anenih, a one time former Minister for Women Affairs, explained that the first distinct national corporate body with focus on social inclusion of senior citizens in sustainable development, improvement of the quality of living and wellbeing for self- fulfillment.
“NSCC is to identify opportunities for training to enhance capacities of senior citizens to continue to participate in what they value and to initiate, develop, facilitate and implement health and social programs.
“To enhance work schemes and enterprise for income generation so as to support independent living, NSCC is also focused on strengthening the protection of senior citizens’ rights to dignity, independence, care, security and participation.
“So, what we came for is to contribute our quota, it is only now that we started having the deserved attention people that are aging supposed to get and before now when we talk of age, people tried to wave it away.
According to her, globally people have come to realise that the aging sector/population is a demographic you cannot just ignore because they still have value to add to the society.
She thanked the commissioner for granting them an audience, and appealed to the State Government to domesticate the NSCC Act.
For Dr. Ahoma Mbanuzuru the National Senior Citizen Centre act works on systematic elements that comes across all and compassing things that have to do with welfare and upliftment of the older persons.
“The welfare includes health, in fact everything about livelihood and part of the structure of the NSCC that has the director General at the National level, at a stage has formed a consultative forum.
“So, among that forum you see those in Nigeria Union of Pensions, the Caregiver, Religious setting and even traditional rulers and part of the structure is to have systematic areas.
“This systematic areas such as health, livelihood, Agro, Age friendly setting and friendly data research and every state is expected to have Co Chairs and six focal persons,’’ Dr. Mbanuzuru said.
