‘Mistrust’ undermines Ivory Coast’s universal healthcare dream

However, less than four percent of those signed up to the CMU have used their insurance card this year, official figures show.

A waste

Marie Djedje said she joined the CMU but later gave up out of disappointment.

“A card that doesn’t work and I’m going to pay 1,000 francs. It’s a waste!” she grumbled, leaving the hospital in Abidjan’s Cocody neighbourhood.

Leaning on his crutch, Curtis Djibran, in his 40s, grimaced as he hobbled out after surgery on his foot following a road accident.

He told AFP he had signed up for universal health coverage but had not paid his monthly premium, forcing him to dip into savings to pay his health costs.

Under a recent push to drive up membership, mobile enrolment centres criss-crossed the country, with thousands of health agents, media, local deputies and traditional chiefs also spreading the word.

The health stakes are high.

Life expectancy at birth in the west African country is 60 years for men and 64 for women, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

While higher than at the turn of the century, Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa grower and a regional economic powerhouse, trails Senegal and Cameroon.

“Many people enrol but don’t use their card,” Wilfried Abo, a gastroenterologist at the Cocody hospital, said.

“Most patients complain that many treatments and medications are not covered,” he said, highlighting a lack of information.