The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Tuesday flagged off the enrolment of another 21,000 indigent residents of the state to a regime of free healthcare services under the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund Programme.
This is another huge take-away of the counterpart funds recently paid by the administration.
The flag-off which took place in Ogbondoroko area of Asa local government, came barely six months after the administration brought 10,000 vulnerable people into its healthcare insurance scheme.
Beneficiaries of the free healthcare services are spread across the 16 local government areas of the state.
“Today’s flag-off of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund Programme in our state is another pointer to the dawn of a new Kwara. Under this programme, 21,000 indigent people of Kwara will henceforth benefit from 100% free healthcare services for ante-natal, baby delivery, surgeries, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, emergencies, chronic and non-chronic diseases,” AbdulRazaq said shortly before handing the cards of the free services to the indigents.
The event was attended by top government functionaries including Deputy Governor, Kayode Alabi and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Salihu Yakubu-Danladi.
“This is one of the beautiful fruits of the counterpart funds that we paid and continue to pay since coming on board in 2019.
Besides, we were able to key into the BHPF programme because we have made our health insurance active through funding as well as proactive steps to bring our primary healthcare under one roof”, he added.
Previous enrolment
Abdulrazaq said that government enrolled 10,000 indigents to the state health insurance scheme in September 2020 while additional 10,000 will be brought on board in the next six months stressing that the 100% health subsidy is unprecedented in the history of our state.
“The target of this administration is to make Kwara the go-to destination for qualitative healthcare and other areas. That journey has begun already. Various projects and initiatives are underway to not only restore the glory of the state but to also place Kwara above its peers in the northern region. When our ICU facility is completed at the IGH, it will be the largest and the best in central Nigeria. We are also investing in infrastructure for dental and eye care to beat our contemporaries in the region.
We are doing these for posterity. However, we need the support of everyone to succeed. To make our state great again, everybody has a role to play — government, the masses and the bureaucracy. I urge all of us to work for a legacy that will outlast us and make life a lot better for the people”, the governor said.
Government officials, health officials and community leaders took turns to commend the Governor for his efforts to reposition Kwara for greatness.
Nneka Ukachukwu
