Governor of Lagos State Akinwunmi Ambode says the Lagos Health Insurance Scheme will be launched into operation by January 2018.
The health insurance scheme is part of the inclusive policy of the Ambode’s administration aimed at ensuring all residents of the state, especially those at the lower rung of the ladder, access medical services on real time.
Ambode spoke Tuesday when he received Queen Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti of the Netherlands at the State House, Ikeja, saying, “We are on the path of positive improvement on the things that have to do with health.
“We have a law that allows us to do the Health Insurance Scheme which is targeted at the most needy and the poor that cannot afford ordinary healthcare. We believe that if we pull the resources of every other person in the state together, those that cannot afford will have a chance to access healthcare, which is in line with what the Queen has been going round to promote for people generally.”
The governor added that government was deeply committed to that and would do everything to make sure that the health insurance scheme starts early next year to give a sense of inclusion to every citizen.
“The main essence of good governance is for us to be able to carry everybody along. In a cosmopolitan city like Lagos, majority cannot afford the things we want them to, and so we believe strongly that a partnership like this is one in the right direction,” he said.
On financial inclusion, the governor said the informal sector accounted for about 80 percent of Lagos population, a development that prompted his administration to set up N25 billion Employment Trust Fund (ETF) to serve as an instrument to grant members of the sector access to finance.
While drawing the similarities between Lagos and Netherlands, he said the state was striving to ensure that every resident was comforted with hope for the future.
Queen Cerruti was in the state to advance the United Nation’s financial inclusion advocacy as a vehicle to alleviate poverty and fostering equitable economic growth in Nigeria.
