About 100,000 people in Niger State have been registered so far and captured as enrollees of the Contributory Health Scheme, NiCare, by the Niger State Contributory Health Agency, since the inception of the scheme.
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer CEO of the Niger State Contributory Health Agency, Sulayman Abu-Bakr, stated this while speaking in an exclusive interview with Newsline in his office on Monday in Minna.
Sulayman Abu-Bakr said the number of enrollees stood at 51, 000 when this administration came into office, pointing out that the increase in the enrollment of people by the agency was a result of the 100 percent support given to the health sector in the state by Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, who has passion for the well-being of the people of the state.
He said Niger State has secured funding support from Gavi, the vaccine alliance, through UNICEF to enroll 10,000 zero-dose children and vulnerable people into the state health insurance scheme.
The executive secretary, while commenting on some of the challenges of the agency, however, told Newsline that lack of sensitization of people, especially in the rural areas of the state, was the major problem confronting the agency, adding that the agency under his leadership was working towards addressing this in no time.
Speaking on the activities of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago as the administration clocks one year in office, Sulayman Abu-Bakr affirmed that the governor has achieved a lot within the shortest period of his tenure, with the groundbreaking on road construction, promotion of the green economy, agricultural revolution through which over 300 farmers were assisted, as well as the renovation of doctor's quarters and the construction of the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna, amongst other infrastructural developments across the state that were ongoing.