The Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority has reviewed its enrolment performance and unveiled a comprehensive 2026 expansion strategy to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.

The director-general of KADCHMA, Abubakar Hassan, said the 2026 expansion strategy would renew focus on the informal sector.

The director-general disclosed this at the 2-day Quarterly Review Meeting on the update of the Informal Sector Enrolment Campaign held in Zaria on Friday.

Mr Hassan said the meeting was convened to assess the authority’s 2025 performance, interrogate enrolment data trends and develop a realistic roadmap for expanding health insurance coverage in the state.

According to him, health insurance coverage in Kaduna rose from 4.5 per cent in 2023 to 9.6 per cent in 2025, reflecting what he described as a “double-digit growth in enrolment” within the period under review.

“Although the growth is encouraging, it is still insufficient to achieve universal coverage. We must scale up faster and smarter,” he said.

He emphasised that credible, verifiable data would remain central to the 2026 strategy, adding that strong institutions are built on credible data.

“Our focus in 2026 is to move from awareness to conversion, from enrolment to retention and from targets to measurable impact,” he said.

He described the informal sector as the “missing middle” in health financing, comprising artisans, traders, farmers, transport workers and other small-scale entrepreneurs.

Mr Hassan said KADCHMA would deepen its engagement with market associations, transport unions, agricultural groups, and other community structures to drive enrolment and renewals.

He added that the authority would also leverage traditional and religious institutions to strengthen advocacy and community mobilisation.

“We are starting with advocacy to the Zazzau Emirate Council, which covers 11 local governments, 35 districts and over 2,700 wards and village heads. The campaign will be expanded to other emirates across the state, and we will also engage faith-based organisations to reduce out-of-pocket health spending,” he said.

Mohammed-Bello Abdulkadir, Salanken Zazzau, and the representative of the Zazzau Emirate Council expressed support for the initiative.

He said the role of traditional institutions in Nigeria’s successful fight against polio demonstrated their capacity to drive public health campaigns.

Garba Mohammed, chairman of the Kaduna State Maternal Accountability Mechanism Initiative, commended KADCHMA for the progress recorded in 2025. He urged the authority to sustain the gains by strengthening retention strategies and boosting enrolment within the informal sector.

Mr Mohammed, however, stated that the state government’s three per cent counterpart funding for the scheme had not been regular.

(NAN)