ASSESSMENT OF AWARENESS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTION SOCIAL HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMME (TISHIP) AMONG STUDENTS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

The Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) is a healthcare delivery scheme that is targeted at students of tertiary institutions to ensure that every student has access to quality healthcare while schooling. The benefit package of TISHIP are the various healthcare services that the students are entitled to access without any out of pocket implication. It is against this backdrop that this study assesses the level of awareness of TISHIP benefit package among students of tertiary institutions in Kaduna State. In a cross-sectional study design, a total of four hundred (400) full-time students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna and Federal College of Education, Zaria who have assessed participated. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and chi square to determine the level of awareness of the students and relationship between awareness and other variables. The level of awareness of TISHIP benefit package among the students was (47.2%) and there was no significant difference in the level of awareness (F = 0.061; p=0.941) among students of the various tertiary institutions that participated in the study. The study also reveals that no difference in the level of awareness of TISHIP among the students based on their place of resident (p=0.071) or gender (p=0.301). However, this study shows that there is difference in the level of awareness of TISHIP among students based on their marital status(p=0.021) and length of stay in school (p=0.000), i.e. less than 2 years and more than two years stay in tertiary institutions in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study concludes that the level of awareness of TISHIP benefit package among students of tertiary institutions in Kaduna State, Nigeria is below average (47.2%). Therefore, stakeholders need to create awareness about the TISHIP among students of tertiary institutions in Kaduna State, Nigeria.