The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has instituted awards for the best graduating students in Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in community medicine in six Nigerian universities.
Mr Emmanuel Ononokpono, NHIS Deputy General Manager, Press, said this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.
Ononokpono said that the awards will be endowed in six federally-funded institutions selected from across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
“The benefiting schools are the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, in the (North-West), University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), in the (North-East), University of Jos in (North-Central), the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, in the (South-East), the University of Benin (UNIBEN), in the (South-South), and the University of Ibadan (UI) in the (South-West),’’ he said.
Ononokpono said the awards, effective from the 2021/22 academic session, would run annually for the next 10 years. Each award is made up of a personal laptop computer and a cash prize of N50,000.
He said that the Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof. Mohammed Sambo, expressed optimism that the awards would promote a culture of excellence amongst students in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
“Recognition is an important resource in promoting academic excellence.
“We are confident that this particular NHIS’ contribution to the healthcare sector will inspire the all-important culture of excellence that our society is in dire need of,’’ he quoted Sambo as saying.
According to him, Sambo said that the awards would also serve to inspire interest in the study of health insurance, a system which has been globally accepted as the most potential vehicle for the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). (NAN)
