The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) has turned to the media to help bridge a critical gap in the state’s drive for universal health insurance when it said compulsory coverage will have little value if residents do not understand the scheme, trust it, or know how to access its benefits.
The agency’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Emmanuella Zamba, made the call during a two-day capacity-building programme for journalists on the Lagos State Health Scheme and its flagship insurance platform, ILERA EKO.
Zamba said the media had a crucial role in translating the policy into information that ordinary residents could understand and use. She also tasked journalists with scrutinising the scheme, correcting false narratives, and drawing attention to weaknesses that could erode public confidence.
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“Policies alone do not guarantee success; their effectiveness depends on understanding, cooperation and participation. The media therefore has a critical responsibility to explain policies accurately, dispel myths, amplify impact and hold institutions accountable,” she said.
The intervention comes against the backdrop of Lagos State’s push for compulsory health insurance for residents following an Executive Order signed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on July 16, 2024.
For a city with a large and diverse population, the policy is designed to shift healthcare financing away from a system in which individuals often bear substantial costs at the point of illness. Insurance, when properly implemented, spreads healthcare expenses across a pool of contributors and can provide financial protection when serious medical needs arise.
Zamba said that protection was particularly important in Lagos, where the cost of healthcare could place significant pressure on households.
“In a megacity like Lagos, health insurance is essential to protecting residents from catastrophic healthcare expenses, providing peace of mind, strengthening the health system and promoting sustainable healthcare financing,” she said.
The permanent secretary asked journalists to go beyond publicity by explaining what ILERA EKO provides, how residents can enrol, and the procedure for accessing healthcare under the scheme.
She also encouraged the press to examine areas where the programme falls short. Such scrutiny, she indicated, could help strengthen the system rather than weaken it, particularly where complaints from enrollees expose administrative or service-delivery problems.
LASHMA has expanded its media engagement as part of that strategy. Thirty-six additional journalists received training during the latest phase, following 56 journalists who participated in the first phase in February 2026.
As part of the programme, the participating journalists, their family members, and dependants were granted one year of free health insurance coverage by LASHMA.
The agency also disclosed a significant expansion of its Equity Fund for vulnerable residents. The allocation has risen from N1 billion to N3 billion, with the funding drawn from one per cent of the state’s Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The increase is significant because compulsory insurance does not automatically translate into equal access. Residents with limited financial means may still struggle to participate without targeted public support. The Equity Fund is therefore positioned as a mechanism for extending coverage to people who might otherwise be excluded by their economic circumstances.
The larger question for Lagos is whether compulsory enrolment can develop into meaningful healthcare protection.
That outcome will depend not only on legislation or government funding but also on whether residents know their entitlements, understand their responsibilities, and believe the system will deliver when medical needs arise.
LASHMA’s media strategy therefore places journalists at an important intersection between policy and the public. Effective reporting can explain the scheme in plain language, investigate complaints, test official claims, and give residents reliable information about their healthcare options.
For ILERA EKO to succeed at the scale envisaged by the state, awareness must consequently move beyond slogans. Residents need information they can act on, while the institutions administering the scheme must be prepared to answer questions when the system falls short.
That is the challenge Lagos now faces: turning a compulsory health insurance policy on paper into coverage that residents can understand, trust, and actually use.
