BusinessDay 01 Apr 2018

C002D5556
Sunday 01 April 2018
46BDSUNDAY
Health&Science
Reliance HMO launches operations with
affordable health insurance plans
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
In a bid to ensure quality and affordable
healthcare coverage
for Nigerians, a fast growing
Health Management Company
in Nigeria Reliance HMO has
announced its operation and introduction
of new allowance of health
subscription plans for individuals,
families and companies.
Reliance HMO is a Nigerianbased
health insurance company
that has fused technology into its
operations to make health insurance
more affordable, easier to access
and all-round pleasant experience
for enrolees.
Speaking on the launch of the
new health insurance operations
Funlola Jide-Aribaloye; CEO Reliance
HMO, stated that introduction
of the new health plans was
informed by the absence of products
tailored to meet the needs of
Nigerians who do not fit into the
target market of large companies
and multinationals while addressing
the press on Thursday, March 29,
2018 in Lagos.
“We understand that there is a
valid need from the public for health
insurance plans that really work,
payment structures that do not burn
a hole in people’s pockets, and customer
service that addresses their
most pressing concerns,”
“And that is why at Reliance
L-R: Opeyemi Olumekun; Chief Operating Officer, Funlola Jide-Aribaloye; Chief Executive Officer and Femi Kuti; Chief Product
Officer, all of Reliance HMO at the media parley held to officially announce the launch of Reliance HMO Health Insurance plans in
Lagos, recently.
HMO, we have built tailor-made
insurance plans that ensure that
individuals, families and organisations
can stay healthy,” said Jide-
Aribaloye.
She further explained that the
health plans address the need of
across range of customers in all
levels.
“For as little as N3, 500 monthly,
individuals can sign up to a health
insurance plan that gives them an
awesome cover with really incredible
benefits. Furthermore, we are
the first and only health insurer
in Nigeria that gives enrolees the
benefit and convenience of monthly
payments.
“This ensures that everyone can
have access to quality and affordable
healthcare” added Jide-Aribaloye.
Also speaking at the launch Femi
Kuti, chief product officer said health
insurance is key to addressing challenges
faced by health sector.
“It is atrocious that only 3 per
cent of Nigerians are covered in the
health insurance and the country
even has more disease conditions
than in more developed countries.
Research shows that 50 per cent
of families are at the risk of catastrophic
financial situation, which
means almost going bankrupt if they
get a big enough health bill.
“Our focus is to help more Nigerians,
get them enrolled in health
insurance and access health care at
a decent price” said Kuti.
According to Opeyemi Olumekun,
chief operating officer, technology
forms a crucial part of our
business and operations.
“We are a Health Insurance company
that acts like a technology
company, using software, data science
and telemedicine to make
health insurance more affordable,
easier to access and more of a delightful
experience for our existing
and prospective customers.
Integrating technology into our
operations also means that our entire
customer experience support is
top-notch and always available 24/7
via various channels.”
“Reliance HMO has an enviable
mantra tagged “You Can Rely On
Us,” and is focused on doing everything
to ensure that the customer’s
health insurance experience is delightful
and seamless. Customers
can also look forward to the 24-hour
Reliance Help Centre where friendly
and highly-trained agents are always
available to provide support and
deal with urgent inquiries” said
Olumekun.
Udom ‘s promises affordable,
accessible healthcare services
ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo
The vision of Governor
Udom Emmanuel in the
health sector is to make
healthcare services accessible
and affordable and this is
being done with the provision of
facilities and consumables in both
primary and secondary healthcare
centres of Akwa Ibom State.
Already, arrangements have
been completed for the establishment
of a primary healthcare
development agency as part of a
deliberate effort to make health
services accessible to the people
in local government areas.
A bill to give effect to the
agency has been signed into law
by the governor and the Federal
Government has donated 32
motorcycles to the state government
to facilitate medical errands
among primary health centres in
the state.
Dominic Ukpong, the commissioner
for health who made this
known in an interview said the
state government has refurbished
and rehabilitated eight general
hospitals across the state and has
selected each primary healthcare
facility in each ward of the 31 local
government areas to make sure
they are brought to the required
standard.
“Governor Udom Emmanuel is
very focused in his efforts to ensure
that healthcare service is available.
He has the willpower and the willingness.
What he has done is that
whenever money is available, he
gives priority to the health sector,’’
he said.
According to him, the General
Hospital, Etinan being a beneficiary
of the government new approach
to the healthcare services has been
“significantly equipped and refurbished”
with modern operating
theatre as well as an accident and
emergency centre while the entire
maternity unit of the hospital has
been reworked and a new laboratory
provided.
“Government has arranged to
import medical equipment, 100
containers, we have taken delivery
of the first 25 containers and
General Hospital, Etinan is the
first beneficiary of a lot of those
equipment . We have trained 20
medical engineers. This group of
workers in the hospital are very
important as they are available to
repair and mend the equipment in
the hospital,’’ he said.
The commissioner disclosed
that the state government has
taken steps to provide adequate
staffing in the hospitals and health
facilities adding that the intake
of nurses has been improved in
the state. Ukpong who lamented
the scarcity of nurses and other
health workers in the state said the
state government has graciously
reviewed the policy of retiring
nurses to ensure that their years
of training do not form part of their
service year
“There was a time some few
years ago nurses were not being
produced in our state for four years
because of lack of accreditation of
the school of nursing. So we have
tried to bridge that by not only taking
nurses but the policy of retiring
nurses had been reviewed.
According to him, in the past,
when a nurse starts training in
the school of nursing, the years of
training were added to the years
of service explaining that at the
end according to policy,nurses are
supposed to retire after 35 years
those years of training would be
part but due o consideration by
the Governor, the period of training
has now been removed from their
service years..
He also said the state government
is constructing an emergency
response centre worth about N1
billion to be equipped to handle
medical emergencies while the
process of the digitialisation of
medical records in hospitals has
commenced saying it would significantly
reduce the time patients
wait before being attended to by
health workers in hospitals.
EPWL therapy employs
technology to cure pain, others
The EPWL all natural employs
technology that provides
safe, effective and detailed
regimens that encourage the
body to heal itself by using moving
magnet energy waves that changes
the way body responds to pain.
Speaking at the recent press
conference was the Chief medical
consultant, Olufunmilayo Braown.
In her words, “The therapy delivers
naturally-derived energy to weaken
cells, which makes for fast, safe and
efficient form of treatment from
broken bones, scars tissue repair”
She said the technology behind
EPWL Natural Therapy has been
used extensively for decades for
many conditions and medical disciplines
fully approved by United
State FDA specifically to fuse broken
bones, wound healing, pain and tissue
swelling, working to reduce pain,
inflammation, the effect of stress on
the body, platelet adhesion and fuse
broken bones.
She said “You may not realize
it and may certainly not feel it, but
inside every one of us is a raging electrical
storm, there is a biological whirlwind
that controls every cell, every
nerve, every tissue, every muscle.”
Adding that “Your body works on
voltage. When voltage is high enough
you feel charged, when it is low you
feel lethargic. Science teaches that
everything is energy. Energy is always
dynamic and therefore it has a frequency.
It changes by the second or
minute at the very least. All energy is
electromagnetic in nature. All atoms
chemicals and cells produce electromagnetic
fields.”
In her words, “Every organ in the
body produces its own signature
bio electric field. Science has proven
that our bodies actually project their
own magnetic fields and that all the
over 70 trillion cells in the body communicate
through electromagnetic
frequencies. Nothing happens in the
body without an electromagnetic
exchange. When the electromagnetic
activity of the body ceases, life
ceases”
She said, there is a lot of pollution
in the world we live in, from industrialisation
and technology. There is the
radiation from telephone masts, from
domestic microwave ovens, even
from our hand held mobile phone. All
these contribute in no small measures
into the way our bodies fail us over
time. A build-up of pollution in our
bodies ultimately results in different
types of pain and deceases.
She however established that
EPWL Therapy is a no drugs/pills
and non invasive approach to pain
management that uses electromagnetic
fields to create pulsing moving
energy.
She stated that EPWL does not
treat medical conditions, instead it
up-regulates the body’s functions and
optimizes the body’s ability to heal
itself naturally. And this wonderful
technology is right here in Ikeja Lagos