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By Sola Rotimi
The Chief Medical Director of Kwara State University Teaching Hospital (KWASUTH), Dr. Ahmed Abdulkadir, has called for a fundamental rethink of how Nigerians finance healthcare, urging the adoption of a grassroots, family-based health insurance model to break the cycle of medical poverty.
Dr. Abdulkadir made the call while receiving members of the Platinum Friends Club, who visited the hospital to offset the medical bills of about ten indigent patients facing urgent financial hardship.
While commending the club for its timely humanitarian intervention, the KWASUTH CMD stressed that charity alone cannot sustain the healthcare system.
According to him, widespread enrollment in health insurance, starting from the family unit, remains the most practical path to universal healthcare access.
“We must eliminate the burden of unaffordable medical bills. If families embrace health insurance collectively, universal coverage can be achieved within a very short time,” Dr. Abdulkadir said.
The Platinum Friends Club members and the KWASUTH CMD, 4th from far left
He warned that delayed or absent insurance coverage often pushes families into medical indigency, leaving them dependent on goodwill during emergencies that should otherwise be manageable.
Speaking on behalf of the Platinum Friends Club, its Governor-General, Prince Oladimeji Ladi-Thompson, said the intervention followed the hospital’s identification of patients in critical financial distress.
He noted that the club’s commitment to social welfare extends beyond the current donation and includes: financial support to multiple healthcare facilities across Kwara State, sponsorship of health insurance policies for vulnerable residents, regular outreach programmes for widows and other marginalized groups.
Prince Ladi-Thompson expressed hope that the initiative would inspire more private organizations and individuals to complement government efforts in healthcare delivery.
Harmony FM reports that the intervention brought visible relief to the beneficiaries, many of whom expressed gratitude and offered prayers for the continued success of the Platinum Friends Club.
