Governor Bello Muhammad of Zamfara, has released N100 million as take-off grant for the state Contributory Healthcare Management Agency, ZACHEMA.

The governor made the announcement while inaugurating the new office complex of the agency in Gusau.

He explained the importance of health insurance scheme, saying it would support most families and individuals currently unable to foot their medical bills.

Matawalle explained that the government took the decisive action to set up the agency in order to give all citizens access to affordable health care services in the state.

He said that the scheme was open to all residents of Zamfara irrespective of their status.

The governor said state civil servants, pensioners and their families would be enrolled under the formal Sector Enrolment Program of the scheme.

“The  Informal Sector Enrolment Program will cover the remaining 83% of our population which is made- up of the vulnerable groups,  children, women, the aged, people with special needs and the poorest of the poor as well as the private sector, organised communities, students and staff of tertiary institutions,” he said.

The governor reeled out his administration’s intervention in the health sector to include distribution of 23 ambulances to health care facilities across the state and construction of new Women and Children Clinics in all the 14 local government areas.

Others, he said, include ongoing construction of 147 Primary Healthcare Centres across rural areas of the state at the cost of over N2.2 billion.

He announced that each of the 50-bed capacity hospitals in the state would be provided with an ambulance for transporting patients especially from rural facilities to secondary health facilities.

On COVID-19, Matawalle said apart from the upgrade, expansion, renovation and equipping of isolation centres at Damba, Kasuwar Daji General Hospital and Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, the government also procured ventilators, hand sanitisers, hand gloves, face masks, test kits, personal protective equipment and consumables.

Earlier, the Commissioner of Health, Alhaji Yahaya Kanoma, thanked the governor for fast tracking the take-off of the scheme and urged people of the state to take advantage of the programme to access affordable health care.

The Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello, described the scheme as a milestone in the administration’s efforts to bring succour to the people.