WorldStage– The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has restored mobility to 78 beneficiaries who sustained workplace injuries through the provision of prostheses under its Employees’ Compensation Scheme.
The Managing Director of NSITF, Mr Oluwaseun Faleye, said this during the presentation of the final report on the current phase of the Fund’s Prosthesis Provision Exercise on Tuesday in Abuja.
Faleye, represented by the Executive Director Operations, Mrs Mojisola Alli-Macaulay, said the intervention demonstrated the Fund’s commitment to improving the quality of life of employees who sustained work-related disabilities.
He commended prosthesis providers, employers, beneficiaries and the monitoring team for ensuring the successful implementation of the programme.
“The cooperation and commitment demonstrated by prosthesis providers, beneficiaries, employers and the monitoring team greatly contributed to the successful completion of this intervention,” he said.
Faleye said the providers also demonstrated flexibility by meeting special clinical needs, including providing a hip disarticulation prosthesis for a beneficiary who required specialised rehabilitation support.
He said the Claims and Compensation Department monitored the exercise from its commencement in April until its successful completion to ensure compliance with approved standards.
“I am pleased to report that the prosthesis provision exercise has been successfully concluded. Beneficiaries were assessed, fitted with appropriate prostheses, trained on their use and discharged after satisfactory evaluation,” he said.
Faleye said that beneficiaries who could not participate due to death, inability to establish contact or refusal to attend after notification were replaced with persons on the supplementary list.
He said the exercise covered eight above-knee prostheses, one hip disarticulation prosthesis, 11 below-knee prostheses, 12 below-elbow prostheses, five above-elbow prostheses and one trans-humeral prosthesis.
According to him, the programme also provided 40 silicone partial hand prostheses, bringing the total number of beneficiaries successfully rehabilitated and discharged under the exercise to 78.
Earlier, the General Manager, Claims and Compensation, Mrs Nkiru Ede-Ogunnaike, said beneficiaries underwent comprehensive clinical assessments, measurements, prosthetic fabrication, fitting, functional training, evaluation and final discharge.
“The prostheses were successfully fitted, and beneficiaries expressed satisfaction with the services rendered. Completion documents, warranties and satisfaction forms have been duly completed and filed,” she said.
Ede-Ogunnaike said the programme significantly improved beneficiaries’ mobility, functionality and quality of life while fulfilling NSITF’s mandate of providing rehabilitation support to injured workers.
According to her, the intervention reaffirmed the Fund’s commitment to supporting employees who sustain disabilities arising from workplace accidents across the country.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mr Solomon Sunday, a staff member of Zodoson Industries in Abia, described the intervention as life-changing.
“Most of us became depressed after our accidents. Today, we have hope again because NSITF restored our confidence and gave us another opportunity to live normally,” he said.
Sunday expressed gratitude to the Fund for providing prostheses and vocational support, saying the intervention had enabled beneficiaries to rebuild their lives and pursue productive livelihoods.“We are deeply grateful to NSITF. The Fund has changed our stories, restored our dignity and given many of us the opportunity to learn skills and earn a living again,” he said.
