HCPAN holds AGM, honours NHIS zonal coordinator

The Health Care Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN), Lagos State chapter has honoured the General Manager/Lagos Zonal Coordinator of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Nasiru Ikharo with an award in recognition for the coordinator’s giant strides in the advancement of health insurance in Lagos State and Nigeria at large.

Presenting the award, on the occasion of the association’s Annual General Meeting held at the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Alausa – Ikeja, the Chairman of HCPAN Lagos chapter, Dr. Shehu Tunji Akintade described Ikharo as a patriotic Nigerian, an achiever and a selfless public servant whose doggedness and perseverance had led to the verifiable awareness and advancement of Health Insurance in Lagos State.

In his keynote address titled, “ Health Insurance – The NHIS story so far” Ikharo stated, “ this noble gathering of HCPAN members is auspicious because the association is the other most important stakeholder in the NHIS ecosystem, the first arguably being the enrollee.”

Going further, Ikharo pointed out, “National Social Health Insurance is an import financing mechanism that protects people against the high cost of care by their making affordable prepayments prior to falling ill.

It involves pooling of resources from persons of different income groups and different health-risk profiles. It also involves cost-burden sharing between those who are ill and those who are healthy. Social Health Insurance, therefore, has three characteristics: prepayment, resource pooling and cost-burden sharing”.

Ikharo noted finally that the recent signing into law of the compulsory Lagos State Health Bill by the State Assembly was a welcome development and greatly commendable as it was a positive step toward universal health coverage.