Obasanjo unveils health initiatives, hearing aid scheme in Abia (2025)

Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday in Umuahia, officially unveiled Abia State Formal Sector Health Insurance, Abia Health Outreach, and the free distribution of hearing aids by the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation and Starkey Foundation.

Obasanjo, who described Abia State Governor Alex Otti as an “established performing governor”, commended the governor for his healthcare policies and congratulated him on prioritising healthcare, saying that healthcare delivery is what led to the establishment of his foundation.

“Health security, which is what we are doing here today, health for all is what led to my establishing health insurance. Nigeria is a potentially great nation; with people like you (Otti), we will achieve our potential. So, we are here to launch the Abia State medical outreach and healthcare delivery for all. This is very important,” Obasanjo said.

He said that one of the areas of interest of his foundation is hearing and stated that hearing loss is not a stigma but could be developed as one gets old. He made a case for the authorities to train a handful of men who can handle hearing aids and their related challenges.

“As for me, I think personal security is the first aspect of the human sector,” he said.

He further named personal security to include “security in the office, on the road and in workplaces; food and nutrition because, if you have not eaten in the last 24 hours, your ability to stand up properly will be impaired; and health security – health for all without any group being left out. That led to me establishing health insurance when I was the president of the country.

“With people like you, we will achieve our potential. Nobody or no group should be left out. This is very important. Other things are attached to healthcare delivery: the need to care for old people, even to hear, hence the social intervention hearing mission. Sometimes, people may need assistance to eat and to walk; hence, we have the third leg.”

Speaking on his Foundation, Obj shared his experience with hearing and said his foundation deals with youth employment, education and health on non-communicable diseases and defect areas.

He added that one of them is hearing defects, adding, “Something can be done about that. I have the remedy. The people in need are large, and what we can do as a foundation is limited.”

“Hearing loss is not a stigma; it is either part of getting old or elements of growing old, and growing old is not a stigma. One can be old and manage your health. This is what we are doing – bringing in capability and capacity on hearing loss.”

In his speech, Otti said his vision for healthcare delivery is to build a system that is dynamic and responsive to the needs of the local population.

Otti assured that nobody in New Abia would be denied access to health services for reasons of financial incapacity, adding that the launch of the triple-barreled initiative would revolutionise service delivery and access to healthcare.

“The formal sector health insurance scheme will see tens of thousands of civil servants and their dependants enrolled for round-the-clock qualitative health services at designated facilities in every part of the state.

“This initiative is structured to drastically reduce out-of-pocket expenditure for individuals in formal sector employment, cut down risks and hazards associated with self-medication and create demand for medical services in all the public health facilities in our urban and rural communities,” Otti stated.