To bridge the gap in child healthcare and ensure the achievement of universal health coverage in Nigeria, especially for children, Avon Healthcare Limited is collaborating with United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, to develop unique health plans for the children.
Avon and UBA Plc are members of the Heirs Holdings Group, an African proprietary investment company with its Chairman and Chief Executive, Tony Elemelu, driving Africa’s development through long-term investments in key sectors of the economy.
Avon is reputed to be a leading health management organization providing healthcare plans and other healthcare services to all Nigerians – individuals, families, groups, companies, and communities.
UBA is a pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than 21 million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touchpoints, in 20 African countries, in addition to the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France.
The bank deploys its IT capability to connect people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking through innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance, and ancillary banking services.
Avon’s Head of Retail Sales and Partnerships, Babajide Oyeduntan, said the collaboration with UBA is expected to help in developing new health plans necessary to close the existing gap in the child healthcare system.
Oyeduntan said both organizations have resolved to join forces to change the narrative for the benefit of children who are usually not adequately insured under the existing universal health coverage in the country.
Under the new healthcare plan tagged the UBA Kiddies Health Plan families have options to sign on to the “UBA Kiddies Plus” or “Prestige”, which allow individuals with UBA Kiddies or UBA Teens account easy access to affordable healthcare services without paying out of their pockets.
Specifically, the healthcare plans are designed to allow Avon HMO to tap into an existing base of thousands of customers who have active UBA accounts or seek to open these accounts to enable them to access great healthcare services.
Oyeduntan said the plan was in line with the organization’s reputation for expanding innovative healthcare access through strategic collaborations with forward-thinking companies.
“Over the years, we have launched series of products in partnership with various entities with the overall aim of improving healthcare access in the country,” Oyeduntan said.
He said recently, Avon launched the Kaffy Health Plan for the entertainment industry as well as bespoke health plans for women with ‘Shecluded’ – a female-oriented financial services company.
The newly launched Kiddies Health Plan in partnership with UBA, he said, further emphasizes the commitment of the company to secure the health of children and improving healthcare access for all Nigerians.
The Head, Personal Banking at UBA Group, Ogechi Altraide, said UBA was excited to partner with Avon to give UBA customers the opportunity to enjoy access to dental care, eye tests/surgeries, back-to-school checks and many more, as part of its promise to help its customers get more value from their loyalty to the bank.
“Despite their susceptibility to sickness, children remain one of the least insured in the country. Meanwhile, healthcare insurance is by far the most important predictor of whether children will receive much-needed health care. The launch of this new health plan is, therefore, an important milestone for us as we continue to put our customers first,” Altraide said.
With less than five percent of the country’s population under any sort of health cover, he said there remains a lot to be done to improve healthcare access. As such, these new products from Avon HMO and UBA are key signposts in the country’s journey towards achieving universal health coverage.
