Hadiza Balarabe, the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, revealed that the health insurance scheme implemented within the state has positively affected 79,000 pregnant women, children, and vulnerable individuals.
Balarabe made this announcement during her keynote speech at a two-day interactive session held in Abuja yesterday. The event engaged all 23 local government chairmen of the state, focusing on discussions about health financing and leadership.
Balarabe emphasized that the Kaduna Contributory Health Management Agency’s effectiveness primarily lies within the formal sector, with an impressive 98% enrollment rate. She also highlighted remarkable enhancements in service provision, which have resulted in significant reductions in maternal mortality rates across the state.
She said; “Already, reports reaching us from the public facility indicate improvement in service delivery with significant gains recorded for maternal and mortality rates in the state. I also understand that 79,000 vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children have been impacted by this scheme in the state.
“The scheme is to facilitate access to quality and affordable healthcare for the residents of the state. This policy encourages residents to set aside little of their income while the government supports them for the days they require health intervention for themselves and their families.
“In this vein government commits 1% of its consolidated revenue fund to this project to specially target the vulnerable population in the state. This engagement will seek to enhance and further strengthen the state government’s resolve to universal health coverage through health insurance.”
However, she expressed the necessity to devise innovative approaches that would facilitate greater enrollment, particularly to encompass the informal sector of the state, where a larger portion of its population resides.
In her earlier comments, Umma Ahmed, the Commissioner for Health of the state, underscored that the health sector had been given utmost precedence, considering their successful attainment of the World Health Organisation’s objectives for this domain.
“Kaduna State has set priority in the health sector because we have achieved the WHO target for the health sector. So, we give prominence to the health and education sectors though we have lean resources, with the help of our development partners we have been able to make a breakthrough.
“We want to strengthen the healthcare scheme in the state, especially at the grassroots, that is why we brought the chairmen of the 23 local government councils of the state which will bring the people closer to the people to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure.”