By Edu Abade
Staff and team members of the Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP) have been urged to stay focused and committed to the realization of the agency’s mission, vision and broad mandate of providing quality healthcare to the people of the state.
Acting Executive Secretary of RIVCHPP, Dr. Vetty Agala, stated this while addressing her team during a thanksgiving to God Almighty for His benevolence and care which saw them through the hurdles of not only establishing a functional agency, but who also made it possible for the agency to touch lives positively and address health issues of Rivers residents in 2024.
“As we thank God for our modest accomplishments in the outgone year, we must remain focused, adaptable to current realities and be stay committed towards the realisation of the agency’s mission and vision,” she said.
Agala used the thanksgiving session, which followed the agency’s first management meeting for the year 2025, to commend Governor Siminialayi Fubara, the Deputy Governor and the state’s UHC Advocate, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Chidinma Oreh, RIVCHPP and the state government to impact more lives in the state, as well as the successes of 2024 and to pray for greater achievements in 2025.
She also applauded the different categories of staff, team members and stakeholders for their sacrifices, as well as their tireless efforts and dedication to the RIVCHPP mandate, maintaining that their hard work and sacrifice have been instrumental to stimulating and driving the agency’s progress.
Agala further restated that RIVCHPP made significant strides in expanding access to quality healthcare, improving health outcomes and promoting financial protection for over 67,000 beneficiaries of the agency’s Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), adding that the feat remains a testament of the collective commitment towards realizing RIVCHPP’s mission and vision.
In a statement by the Information and Media Officer of RIVCHPP, Idanye Oruigoni, she (Agala) pointed out that the agency’s cardinal and strategic priorities, focus and objectives for 2025 would include scaling up on its services to the people by ensuring that more families and individuals have access to quality healthcare services.
“The services will be accessed without straining themselves to pay for the healthcare services through our various plans and especially the SimJara initiative for the informal sector and formal sector plans,” she stated.
She stressed that another strategic plan of the agency for 2025 is the need for improving service delivery by prioritising quality and efficient service delivery towards achieving better health outcomes for residents of the state.
Agala also disclosed said that in 2025, RIVCHPP will invest in the capacity development of its staff member, even as it recognises the upgrading of its systems and processes to ensure that they are well equipped to deliver on the agency’s broad mandate, as it looks forward to enhanced stakeholders engagements to ensure that healthcare remain accessible and effective in the state.
The staff members, who appreciated Governor Fubara, Odu, Oreh and Agala for their doggedness, effective leadership and proactive approach in prioritizing household health insurance in the state, pledged to continue to do their best with a view to realising RIVCHPP’s mandate.
