Praneeta Prakash 
Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji / Facebook
Affordability and accessibility are major obstacles preventing many Fijians from obtaining insurance, particularly in the health sector.
Consumer Council of Fiji Chief Executive, Seema Shandil highlighted this during her submission to the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs.
During the submissions Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Chair Sakiusa Tubuna raised concerns over the low rate of insurance coverage.
“One of the things that I noted is when we had looked at another report a low number of people getting insured in Fiji, number of cases I think we saw in another report was around 11,000 or so. What can be done to ensure that you know more people are insured because particularly when you look at know the health sector.”
Consumer Council of Fiji Chief Executive, Seema Shandil says there is a need to relook at the insurance products
She believes that insurance products need to be more accessible and affordable for the general population.
“The parametric insurance that is now available to the farmers. So it’s a very cheap product and very easily accessible to farmers in times of certain identified events, which is wind, rain, flooding, and cyclones. So we need some products similar to those products, which is cheap, accessible, and available in times of emergencies.”
She adds that addressing these barriers will be crucial in increasing coverage and ensuring that more Fijians can secure the protection they need.
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