The Nasarawa State Health Insurance Agency (NASHIA) has enrolled no fewer than 308,000 residents into the state health insurance scheme.
The agency’s executive secretary, Yahaya Ubam, disclosed this at a town hall meeting on Tuesday in Lafia to commemorate the 2025 Universal Health Coverage Day.
Mr Ubam said the meeting was also convened to review the agency’s activities and obtain feedback from enrollees and owners of healthcare facilities registered with the scheme, with a view to improving service delivery.
According to him, beneficiaries were enrolled in various packages, including the public sector, the informal sector, vulnerable groups, and students, among others.
Mr Ubam said the scheme, inaugurated in 2019 with zero enrollees, had recorded significant growth, registering over 308,000 persons to date.
He explained that many enrollees had accessed medical services across 260 accredited healthcare facilities in the 13 local government areas of the state, noting that although some challenges had been encountered, efforts were ongoing to address them.
The executive secretary further said the agency had fully digitalised its operations to enhance efficiency and ensure enrollees’ easy access to quality healthcare services.
Mr Ubam urged healthcare providers to uphold professionalism and deliver quality services to beneficiaries to strengthen public confidence in the insurance scheme.
He commended Governor Abdullahi Sule for his support, which he said had contributed to the agency’s achievements so far.
Mr Ubam also lauded individuals who had adopted and paid for the enrolment of indigent persons in their communities, urging others to emulate the gesture.
He assured that the agency would continue to work towards achieving its mandate in line with the objectives of universal health coverage.
In his remarks, Gaza Gwamna, the state commissioner for health, commended the management of NASHIA for the innovations introduced to improve service delivery.
Represented by Damina John, the ministry’s permanent secretary, the commissioner said the state government would continue to support the agency.
He said that providing accessible, high-quality healthcare services remained a top priority of the Sule-led administration.
Highlights of the meeting included a question-and-answer session involving union officials and owners of healthcare facilities on challenges encountered in the delivery of services to enrollees.
(NAN)