The Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, has directed district heads across the emirate to sponsor vulnerable residents for enrolment in the Kaduna State contributory health insurance scheme

Bamalli described health insurance as a critical investment in the wellbeing of the people, particularly vulnerable members of society, and directed the district heads to commence the sponsorship immediately.

The Emir gave the directive when the Director-General of the Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA), Mallam Abubakar Hassan, and other stakeholders in the health sector paid a courtesy visit to his palace in Zaria.

Bamalli said the emirate must move away from “dependence on out-of-pocket payments for medical treatment”, stressing that health insurance provides residents with access to healthcare without the need to raise large amounts of money whenever illness occurs”.

The emir described the directive to the district heads as non-negotiable and challenged them to demonstrate their commitment by personally sponsoring vulnerable residents into the scheme.

He said individuals and organisations with the capacity to support healthcare should prioritise sustainable health insurance coverage for vulnerable people rather than concentrating their resources on temporary interventions.

According to him, sponsoring even one or two people could make a significant difference, particularly in view of the declining purchasing power of Nigerians.

“Even if it is one or two people you sponsor, which is just N20,000, and you know N20,000 today is like peanut because of the value of money that has gone down. So if you can pay N10,000, yes, you are saving a life,” the Emir said.

Bamalli disclosed that “1,000 health insurance enrolment slots had been made available for distribution across the 31 districts of the Zazzau Emirate”, noting that “the slots would be distributed according to the population and size of the districts to ensure wider coverage and equitable access.”

The Emir also expressed satisfaction with developments in healthcare delivery in the state and commended the growing support of strategic partners towards improving access to healthcare.

He further appreciated the presentation of a monitoring device to the emirate, saying it would enable the traditional institution to track healthcare performance across its districts.

According to him, the device would assist district heads in monitoring and evaluating health-related activities within their respective areas and identifying gaps requiring attention.

Bamalli said the technology would be deployed immediately, stressing that reliable data and performance monitoring were essential to improving healthcare delivery across the emirate.

Earlier, the Director-General of KADCHMA, Mallam Hassan, said the Kaduna State Government had set a target of achieving at least 75 per cent health insurance coverage by 2030.

Hassan explained that the target was part of efforts to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure and ensure greater access to quality healthcare services across the state.

He said the engagement with the Emir was aimed at expanding health insurance enrolment, particularly through the support and mobilisation of traditional institutions.

According to him, the state government was leveraging the traditional institution because of its influence at the grassroots, adding that the Emir of Zazzau, who serves as the state’s ambassador for informal-sector health insurance enrolment, had played a significant role in mobilising traditional leaders and their communities.

Hassan stressed , Kaduna State had already enrolled almost one million active beneficiaries under its health insurance programmes, while the total number of people covered through health insurance in the state and related schemes had risen to about 1.2 million.

He expressed optimism that the state would achieve its 75 per cent coverage target by 2030, attributing the prospect to increasing public confidence in government and the growing awareness of the benefits of contributory health insurance.

“I am highly optimistic that the state would meet its 75 per cent coverage target by 2030 because the increasing level of public trust in government is encouraging more residents to enrol in the contributory health insurance scheme,” Hassan added.