Sanwo-Olu to residents: Register for health insurance scheme

Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has charged all residents of the state to register for the Health Insurance Scheme (HIS) introduced by the government towards ensuring improved healthcare delivery.

The governor gave the charge on Wednesday at the ongoing Medic West Africa Conference which took place at the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, saying the subscription to the scheme would enable the government to prioritise its healthcare programmes to enhance its quality and affordability to the residents.

Sanwo-Olu said the health insurance coverage must be scaled up as a condition to build the confidence of private investors in the scheme, which, he said, was created to remove the burden on the residents by providing affordable healthcare.

“For the health to be completely affordable and accessible, people must subscribe to our Health Insurance Scheme, where we need to increase coverage in terms of registration. This is how developed countries are able to tackle their health financing and access.

“What it means is that everybody will not take ill at once. But, the financing process would be in a way that, anyone who needs it at any given time will have full access to it because such a person contributed to the scheme. Also, the option of health facilities to be used by a subscriber would include private hospitals. All of these are brought out to make healthcare accessible and affordable,” the governor said.

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The governor hinted that the state would start the process of revamping its road ambulance scheme, with the objective of creating more ambulance points across the state.

The overhaul, according to him, would include the deployment of emergency responders to each ambulance point to give palliative treatment to the injured before being transported to hospitals.

He maintained that his administration would not pay lip service to the upgrading of the state-owned specialist hospitals, adding that the primary healthcare centres were being strengthened to reduce pressure on the secondary health facilities.

Sanwo-Olu, who personally inspected latest medical technology equipment exhibited at the event, said the government would be leveraging its Public-Private Partnership (PPP) policy to acquire some of the advanced technologies displayed at the conference.

The governor observed that advancement in technology had simplified various medical procedures which decades ago could not be easily accomplished, reiterating his administration’s readiness to leverage on technology to bring relief to the residents in healthcare delivery.

Sanwo-Olu, in the course of the exhibition, sealed supply deals with two firms to equip the state-owned teaching hospital with some advanced medical equipment.

Joining the governor at the event were the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, and the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Prof. Adetokunbo Fabanwo.