SOSO Care uses an unconventional approach to deliver health insurance in Nigeria

With an estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic yearly released into the environment, plastic pollution; by virtue of being non-degradable, is capable of affecting land, waterways and oceans, consequently leading to the death of marine and land creatures, causing hazard to the soil, emitting toxic gasses when exposed or heated up and blocking the drainage line to cause flood and erosion.

On the other hand, the low access to healthcare prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa remains the worst in the world, with few countries able to spend the $34 to $40 a year per person that the World Health Organization considers the minimum for basic health care. Despite widespread poverty, an astonishing 50 percent of the region’s health expenditure is financed by out-of-pocket payments from individuals.

Nonso Opurum, Founder of SOSO Care, explains how the platform is utilizing a ‘trash for health’ solution, to solve these problems. 

SOSO Care was created with the purpose of providing a joint solution to 2 development challenges faced by Nigeria and most developing countries; access to health and waste management in rapidly growing urban slums.

Because 85% of Nigerians don’t have access to basic health insurance, this simply means about 180 million people need to rely on out-of-pocket money to finance their health needs. And for low-income households and micro-entrepreneurs, being ill can be financially catastrophic, as it erodes their savings, depletes working capital, causes loan repayment default and indebtedness. So this situation contributes to pushing millions of people into poverty because of unexpected health finance burden, particularly people working in the informal sector, which accounts for over 65 % of the Nigerian workforce.