Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State has said that pregnant women, children, inmates and accident victims are to receive free medical services across the state.
The governor disclosed this while delivering his address at the flag-off of the state contributory healthcare scheme held at the Dutse general hospital in Dutse Local Government.
He said the state government is expending over N900 million annually in the provision of free healthcare services for four years across the state
Governor Badaru claimed the services cover all pregnant women, children under the ages of five, accident victims, correctional inmates and boarding students.
He explained that the government observed that the high cost of healthcare services has been a challenge to families with low-income and other vulnerable persons in the state.
The Governor said his administration increased the monthly funding of free healthcare services from N15 million to N75 million.
He said state Government also introduced a contributory healthcare scheme to further ensure an overall healthy and productive population.
He said the state government is committed to improving healthcare services, considering that it has been allocating an average of 15% of the state’s budget to the sector since 2016.
The Executive Secretary, Jigawa State contributory healthcare Agency Dr. Nura Ibrahim Kazaure said over 40,000 civil servants of the state have been registered under the scheme while about 200,000 of their dependants would also benefit from the exercise.
Dr. Nura said the beneficiaries would access services through 191 healthcare providers that include both private and public across the state.
