Ivory Coast recently introduced mobile enrolment centres for its universal health coverage program, which has faced criticism since its inception in 2019 due to difficulties in accessing benefits. Samuel Touffet, who visited a mobile centre to update his coverage, expressed his disappointment, stating:
“I’m not too happy with the card. There are so many pharmacies where if we go with the card, it doesn’t work. …Also, when we go to the hospital with the card, they say it doesn’t work. So we don’t know what this card is even worth.”
Bruno Agnissan, already a holder of a universal health card, attended a mobile enrolment centre in Abidjan to gather information on its usage but remains uncertain:
“When we went to the pharmacy and I presented the voucher, the pharmacy said that ‘no, this is only for civil servants.’ That it won’t work for us individuals. …”
He described how treating his son for a simple case of malaria became a challenge under the program, as the hospital ran out of one of the necessary medications. Given a voucher to cover the cost at a local pharmacy, he was unable to find a pharmacy that would accept it.
Despite these challenges, Health Minister Pierre Dimba remains optimistic about the program’s potential to provide basic insurance for all Ivorian citizens, with private insurance serving as a supplement:
“We are currently considering the possibility of making this card usable in private establishments. And ultimately, it’s a unique platform of health coverage that we will have in our country, that if you are privately insured, you will be on the same platform as the universal health coverage, which will be the basic insurance. Other insurance will be just complementary, like in the great countries that we all know.”
The universal health coverage program, known locally by its French acronym CMU, aims to cover 70% of healthcare costs for 1,000 West African CFA francs ($1.65). The mobile enrolment centres sign up individuals and families and print cards onsite, allowing recipients to immediately access care at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies nationwide.
Authorities highlighted that these centres would reach those unable to visit traditional enrolment centres due to long working hours in the informal sector. Although the government maintains a positive outlook, only 40% of the population is registered in a program that has been heavily criticized by Ivorians as ineffective.
