By Adeyinka Olumide
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday, made a passionate appeal to all residents of the State to register for the Health Insurance Scheme introduced by the government towards ensuring improved healthcare delivery.
Subscription to the scheme, Sanwo-Olu said, would enable the government prioritise its healthcare programmes to enhance its quality and affordability to the residents.
The governor made the call at the ongoing Medic West Africa Conference at the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island.
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 burden on the residents by providing affordable healthcare.
He said: “For 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 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 also said the State would revamp its road ambulance scheme, with the objective of creating more ambulance points across the State. The overhaul, Sanwo-Olu pointed out, would include deployment of emergency responders to each ambulance point to give palliative assistance and or treatment to the injured before being transferred to the hospitals.
The governor said 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 inspected latest medical breakthroughs and 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.
He observed that advancement in technology had simplified various medical procedures which decades ago could not be easily accomplished. He therefore, reiterated his administration’s readiness to leverage on technology to bring relief to the residents in healthcare delivery.
In the course of the exhibition, the governor sealed equipment 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.