A few months after implementing the first phase of the Christian Aid-funded UHC intervention in Keffi LGA of Nasarawa State which clearly revealed the path towards expanding access to quality and affordable healthcare services to the poor and vulnerable people through effective community engagement, DGI has been engaged to scale up the intervention to sustain achieved results and attain its overall goal.

The first phase of the intervention recorded remarkable achievements in increased health care service utilization among the adopted beneficiaries of the program, stimulation of demand for health insurance services among target groups, and payment of premium for some poor and vulnerable persons by informal sector groups and influential persons in the communities.

Building on the community structure that was set up in the first phase of the programme, this phase seeks to expand the scope of the intervention to: (a) raise the accountability bar for BHCPF and Equity Fund; (c) devise mechanisms for ensuring the sustainability of premium payment through existing community structures; and (c) strengthen the institutional capacity of the Nasarawa State Health Insurance Agency (NASHIA) to perform key health insurance functions especially mobilization of resources to expand health insurance coverage to the poor and vulnerable.

The project which is being implemented in five (5) wards in Keffi LGA seeks to achieve grassroots UHC goals through (a) Community mobilization and sensitization; (b) advocacy for the adoption of the poor and vulnerable population; (c) promoting innovative approach for resource mobilization to expand health insurance coverage to the vulnerable and marginalized people, and (d) strengthening the capacity of communities to hold policymakers and political class accountable for the implementation of pro-UHC policy thrusts.