Authors : R.A. Sanusi and A.T. Awe
Abstract: >For equitable access to health care in Nigeria, the government introduced the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as an alternative source of funding for a rapidly extending and increasingly costly health care system. This study assessed the level of awareness of NHIS by health care consumers in Oyo state, Nigeria. A random sampling technique was adopted in administering one hundred questionnaires on health care consumers in the state. Information sourced with questionnaire include age, gender, family size, marital status, employment status, educational status, income and registration levels. Analytical techniques used were chi-square (χ2) and descriptive statistics. Results from the study showed that 87% of the respondents were aware of the (NHIS) programme and about 83% of the respondents were registered with the programme. Furthermore, employment level is a significant factor (p<0.01) affecting the level of awareness of the programme by respondents while gender, income level, family size, marital status and educational status were not significant factors influencing the awareness of respondents about the programme. Though the scheme is still at infancy, notwithstanding, majority of the respondent were aware of and registered for the programme. Hence, there is the need for the government to consolidate the gains so far of NHIS in order to improve the performance of the scheme.
R.A. Sanusi and A.T. Awe , 2009. An Assessment of Awareness Level of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Among Health Care Consumers in Oyo State, Nigeria. The Social Sciences, 4: 143-148.