Knowledge, attitudes and opinions of health care providers in Minna town towards the national health insurance scheme (NHIS)

Background: The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was launched five years ago in Nigeria. Being a relatively new concept, its success would be determined largely by its wide acceptability, which in itself is subject to the level of awareness and the understanding of the workings of the scheme by all stakeholders. Methods: A cross sectional design was use to assess the knowledge, attitudes and opinions of 278 health care providers working at different levels of care in Minna town in both private and public sectors. Result: Even though a good number of all respondents (90.3%) were aware of the scheme, only (38.8%) had good information on its objectives. The electronic media- Radio/T.V (82.1%) and Newspapers (29.1%) were their main sources of information on the scheme. Majority of the respondents (87.1%) expressed willingness to participate in the scheme. Albeit that only (45.7%) of the respondents were satisfied with its level of publicity, majority (71.2%) expressed optimism that the scheme can succeed in Nigeria.Conclusion: The study revealed grossly inadequate knowledge on the operational principles of the scheme, but a positive attitudinal predisposition among health care providers studied. This calls for a conscious publicity drive and intensive educational campaigns. Keywords: knowledge, attitudes, opinions, healthcare providers, national health insurance scheme Annals of Nigerian Medicine Vol. 1(2) 2005: 9-1