Petty traders to benefit from TIVA insurance database

Shinyanga Regional Commissioner, Christina Mdeme, has urged small-scale businesses to register in the prescribed informal sector database, a move that would ease solving businesses' social and economic challenges.

The RC was speaking at the conclusion of the Shinyanga petty traders’ union (Shiuma), conference.

The remarks went alongside inauguration of the maiden TIVA health insurance database in Kahama District, which will see petty traders and entrepreneurs from across the country grab a special voucher to easily access medication.

TIVA managing director Joshua Mhingo said Tanzania has been facing a myriad of technological challenges due to the lack of a robust system that digitally links all health facilities and beneficiaries countrywide. Expounding that, he said the company had opted to embark on crafting a system before insuring potential members so as to get authentic statistics. 

"The Tiva database will help to determine the exact number of petty traders from across the country.  This database is a boon to Shiuma traders. Members will be easily identified and assisted, regardless of where their businesses are located."

He noted that the TIVA database will liaise with the government system to solve diverse challenges facing petty traders in rural areas by ascertaining their numbers and nature of entrepreneurship.

"The database had started with special groups of entrepreneurs to exactly obtain the available statistics from every region, doing so will ease the mode of issuing health insurance vouchers countrywide in the foreseeable future," said Mr. Mhingo. He added: "Societies have been placed on outdated systems, which do not align with international standards of reaching potential beneficiaries. TIVA database is keen to tackle this challenge once and for all."

The Tiva boss noted that, Tanzanians have been finding it hard to obtain health insurance due to lack of reliable digital systems, expounding that his organisation is set to use special vouchers that will be easily available everywhere and that potential members will register through smartphones.

"Therefore, Shiuma has opened the door. He noted that other potential customers will follow suit to easily obtain health insurance.

For his part, Tiva Finance and marketing manager, Mark Irunde said notwithstanding the rate of poverty, only 15% of Tanzanians have health insurance, with 85% being left to dig deep in their pockets for medical bills.

Mr. Irunde  said that because of a lack of health insurance, most patients resort to raising funds from relatives, thus making them prone to more health complications and even deaths, adding that having a robust insurance system will help everyone access quality medication regardless of their economic status.

Shiuma chairperson Ernest Matondo, said the maiden system will ease petty traders’ administrative activities, hinting that most of the challenges are set to be solved after identifying businesses’ locations.

"We will use the system to prepare and coordinate all health insurance activities. It will also transform means of communication before grappling with the challenges," he noted adding that in the first phase, every region, including Shinyanga Region will see over 10,000 potential customers registered for the handy services.

A Kahama township shoe vendor, Sophia Shitungulu said, she is optimistic about the database deal that will make her settle peace of mind unlike this time when she mostly thinks of how to cover her medication from the paltry income she earns.

''If i get assured of medication, even business will go very smoothly. I expect this insurance to be readily affordable for common people," she says.

According to Mr. Irunde, the company anticipates registering over 3.8 million, and due to the huge number, it is set to use smartphones to ease the activity.

He noted that this is a free market mode, therefore, by using the database a potential customer will easily see a patient’s invoice thus curbing the forgery once and for all.

‘We will connect this database to all health facilities countrywide and we will have our system linked with another database," said Mr. Irunde adding that their system links three beneficiaries: a service provider, a customer, and the insurance itself contrary to the current system which does not link all hospitals.