Cross River Government has made enrolment in the state Health Insurance Scheme compulsory for all civil and public servants in the state.

The Head of Service, Bassey Okon, announced this in a circular dated Sept.

According to the circular in Calabar, at the weekend, the directive takes immediate effect.

Okon stated that the policy was meant to ensure that all the civil and public servants had access to affordable, quality, and timely healthcare services, while strengthening the welfare and productivity of the state workforce.

He directed all the civil and public servants to enroll in the scheme and comply with the registration and documentation requirements of the agency.

The circular also introduced a mandatory requirement for officers to attach valid health insurance enrolment cards to official correspondences relating to personnel matters.

“Correspondences concerning promotion, confirmation of appointment, loan applications, study leave, training or sponsorship, transfer or secondment, as well as other personnel-related requests or benefits, would not be processed without the attachment of a valid health insurance enrolment card,” it stated.

To facilitate the enrolment process, the government established enrolment points at the Office of the Head of Service, New Secretariat, Calabar, and the Ministry of Health, Old Secretariat, Calabar.

Okon directed all Heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that officers under their supervision were duly informed about the circular and made to comply with the enrolment requirement without delay.

He also urged concerned officers to take advantage of the designated enrolment points for guidance and assistance and to complete their enrolment as required.

He further directed all the heads of the MDAs to bring the contents of the circular to the attention of all civil and public servants under their supervision. (NAN)

The Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State has expressed joy over the World Health Organisation’s Open Defecation-Free Certification for the council.

The council Chairman, Dr Eric Odo, attributed the feat to the combined efforts of the State Government and Enugu State Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA).

Odo spoke when he paid a courtesy visit to CSDA, on Friday, saying that the commendation for the certification should go to Gov.

He also lauded the agency for its efforts towards improving the lives of vulnerable and rural communities in the state.

He attributed the agency’s rapid growth to the proactiveness of the CSDA boss.

According to Odo, the CSDA and its staff have shown dedication and professionalism in delivering a lasting outcome through a valid output of teamwork anchored on team spirit.

“The council appreciates His Excellency, Dr Peter Mbah, for his strong support to the agency towards the provision of potable water to rural communities.

“The provision of potable water also comes with the construction of public toilets for the total eradication of open defecation in communities and council areas.

“These people-oriented initiatives are significant steps towards improving sanitation, public health and the wellbeing of residents,” Odo said.

He called for greater collaboration, advocacy and funding for CSDA to enhance its performance.

He also urged the agency to continue to prioritise disadvantaged communities and provide essential services, such as potable water and sanitation facilities, to rural communities.

Responding, Ani commended the council boss for the visit, describing it as a bold step towards consolidating the partnership between the agency and Igbo-Etiti council.

The CSDA boss also appreciated Odo and the council for supporting the efforts of the agency by constructing water boreholes in the council area.

“CSDA is grateful for your investment efforts, mobilisation and reorientation of the people, resulting in making Igbo-Etiti a WHO’s Certified Open Defecation Free Local Government in the state,” he said. (NAN)

Stakeholders in the health, manufacturing, regulatory and development sectors have called for urgent policy and regulatory reforms to make menstrual products more affordable and accessible to millions of Nigerian women and girls battling period poverty.

The call was made at the Nigeria Menstrual Health Forum: “Driving Standards and Policy Reform for Affordable Menstrual Products,”organised in Lagos by the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, in collaboration with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, with funding from the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund, SHF.

The two-day forum brought together government agencies, manufacturers, private sector players, civil society organisations and development partners to address affordability, quality standards, local production and market access for menstrual products.

An estimated 37 million women and girls in Nigeria are affected by period poverty, while 24 per cent of schoolgirls regularly miss classes because of inadequate menstrual materials and poor water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

The situation has been worsened by inflation, with the price of menstrual pads rising from about N200–N400 three years ago to N500–N750 or more, forcing some women and girls to resort to unsafe alternatives, including old cloth, mattress foam and reused sanitary pads.

Speaking at the forum, UNFPA Gender and Adolescent Unit representative, Dr Zubaida Abubakar, said the focus was not merely on increasing access to menstrual products but ensuring that products available in the market were affordable, safe and of good quality.

“This forum marks a turning point in Nigeria’s menstrual health landscape. By driving standards and policy reform, we aim to dismantle barriers to access, ensure dignity for women and girls, and unlock opportunities for education, health, and empowerment,” Abubakar said.

She explained that the objective was to create an environment where local manufacturers could produce menstrual commodities at lower costs rather than relying mainly on government subsidies.

“We cannot expect the government alone to be responsible for subsidising menstrual commodities. What we want to do is make sure that the manufacturers are able to produce them at a lower cost,” she said.

According to her, the goal was to “flood the market with affordable, quality-standard” products capable of reaching women and girls across the country.

The forum also focused on strengthening standards and certification to prevent substandard menstrual products from entering the Nigerian market.

Head, National Product Certification Department, SON, Phebean Arumemi, said standards could help manufacturers reduce production costs by minimising waste and improving production processes.

“One of the key benefits from standards is cost management,” Arumemi said, stressing that the agency was working with manufacturers, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs, to improve their capacity to meet quality requirements.

She said SON’s priority was not to shut down factories but to provide mentorship and compliance support.

“Our first priority is not to close down factories. It is mentorship support to help them escalate from where they are now,” she said.

Also speaking, Elisha Sule of SHF said greater coordination among regulators, manufacturers and financiers was critical to developing a sustainable menstrual health market.

“The businesses are there, the regulators are there, NAFDAC is there, SON is there. We need someone to bring us all together to keep talking. And so, without that coordination, we’re not going to be able to move forward,” Sule said.

He said many women-led businesses in the sector required capacity building and access to finance to scale production, urging stronger collaboration with financial institutions, including the Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN.

Meanwhile, investment adviser Kunle Awolowo of ONYX Investment Advisory Limited, advocated import substitution to reduce production costs, noting that up to 90 per cent of inputs used by some local manufacturers were imported.

He also suggested smaller product packages to make menstrual products more affordable to low-income consumers.

The forum is part of the SHF-funded initiative, Menstrual Health & Hygiene: Unlocking Women’s Power, implemented across six African countries.

Nigeria has adopted the Africa Regional Standard for menstrual products and is pursuing ISO certification, while it has also developed a National Policy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management, 2025–2030.

The stakeholders said ending period poverty would not only restore dignity but also improve health, school attendance, gender equality and women’s economic participation.(PUNCH)