Insure them and improve their welfare: effect of Hygeia Community Health Insurance on households’ welfare in Kwara State, Nigeria

The Hygeia Community Health Plan was designed such that agriculture-based households can have access to affordable healthcare services. It is also aimed at providing financial risk protection against catastrophic healthcare costs which if persistent, could possibly drive them into poverty. This paper used a well-structured questionnaire to solicit responses on the effect of the Hygeia Community Health Plan on the welfare of farming households in Kwara State, Nigeria. A two-stage sampling technique was used to sample 175 farming households comprising of 115 beneficiaries and 60 non-beneficiaries from Shonga, Bacita and Lafiagi districts of Edu local government area of Kwara State, Nigeria. The ordinary least square and logit model were used in the analysis of the data for this study. The results of the analysis showed that the Hygeia community health plan was positively and statistically significant in influencing the per capita income, per capita calorie intake and the food security status of farming households in the area. Therefore, it was recommended that the government should create an enabling environment or partner with private insurance organizations. This will help them work out a plan to help rural households in other parts of the country access affordable healthcare services easily. This will help in the attainment of the universal access to health services in Kwara State and country Nigeria at large.</p

Multilevel analysis of the social determinants of health status and wellbeing of rural farmers in North-central Nigeria

Introduction Over the years, rural dwellers have suffered from the unequal distribution of basic facilities when compared to the urban dwellers. This has resulted in situations where their health have been compromised and thus their productive capacity. Methods This paper using a Multilevel Analysis examines these social determinants of health status and wellbeing of rural farmers in North-central, Nigeria. Analytical tools employed include the descriptive statistics and the multivariate multilevel model. Results The result of the analysis showed that the income, years of schooling, living condition, frequency of physical exercise, alcohol consumption and smoking habit were some of the factors significantly influencing the health status and wellbeing of rural farmers in the study area. Others include exposure to tobacco smoke, access to improved toilet facilities, proper solid waste management and distance to potable water. It also revealed that community level co-variation between health status and wellbeing was stronger than at the individual level. Conclusions Therefore, it was recommended that efforts should be made by government to provide rural areas with basic potable water sources. The rural dwellers should also be enlightened on the basics of good sanitation and hygiene. This will help reduce diseases and deaths from water-related infections and poor hygiene. Furthermore, laws should be put in place to prohibit smoking of tobacco products in public places. All these will reduce the incidence of disease conditions thereby resulting in a healthier workforce that can thus work together with the government towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals