The Kano State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (KSCHMA) has recorded a significant expansion in health insurance coverage, with enrolment rising from 497,262 residents in 2023 to 933,014 in 2025—an increase of 87.6 per cent within two years.
The Executive Secretary of the agency, Ms Rahila Muktar, disclosed this on Friday during a press briefing in Kano to commemorate the 2025 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day.
Ms Muktar said the growth reflected the state government’s commitment to improving access to affordable and quality healthcare through the Kano State Contributory Health Scheme.
“I stand before you not just to commemorate this day, but to present a robust account of progress, hope and tangible results achieved under the visionary leadership of Governor Abba Yusuf and the guidance of the Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran,” she said.
She explained that KSCHMA was established under Law No. 3 of 2016 to provide a sustainable healthcare financing framework funded through pooled contributions, donations and taxes, aimed at meeting residents’ healthcare needs as outlined in the scheme’s benefit package.
According to her, the scheme seeks to ensure access to quality healthcare, promote equity, control healthcare costs, maintain service standards and improve efficiency in service delivery.
Since assuming office in June 2023, Ms Muktar said the agency had prioritised rapid enrolment expansion and stronger financial protection for residents in line with the state’s social welfare agenda.
“Our mandate has been clear: to expand access to quality healthcare and make healthcare a right, not a privilege. Universal Health Coverage remains the overarching goal for global health development, and inclusion is at its core,” she said.
Providing a breakdown of the figures, she disclosed that enrolment under the state-funded Vulnerable Group Programme grew by 935 per cent, rising from 4,903 to 50,745 beneficiaries, with support from the Kano State Health Trust Fund.
She said the expansion ensured that pregnant women, children under five, persons living with disabilities and individuals with chronic conditions such as sickle cell disease and HIV could access healthcare services.
Enrolment under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund also rose by 215 per cent, from 108,664 to 342,515, strengthening access to primary healthcare services across the state.
In the formal sector, the agency recorded a 40 per cent increase in enrolment, reaching 537,914 individuals, while the informal sector posted a growth of more than 1,143 per cent, rising from 148 to 1,840 enrollees.
Ms Muktar said the expanded coverage currently supports 145,723 pregnant women, 124,802 children under five, 46,512 persons living with disabilities, 31,003 people with chronic medical conditions, 29,473 people living with HIV, 3,609 inmates in correctional centres and 8,053 others with conditions such as fistula, hypertension and spinal cord injuries.
She added that the agency had strengthened partnerships with key institutions, including the State Primary Healthcare Management Board, the Hospitals Management Board, the Private Institutions Management Agency, DMCSA, the Kano State Agency for the Control of AIDS and the Kano Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as development partners.
According to her, KSCHMA is also targeting 39,000 indigent sickle cell patients, some of whom are already receiving care at specialist hospitals under the Abba Care Programme. She said the agency had introduced a Zakat and Waqf Programme to support vulnerable groups in line with Islamic ethical financing principles and expanded healthcare coverage for inmates under the state’s vulnerable programme.
Ms Muktar disclosed that the agency had upgraded its call centre to improve response time to complaints and digitised service utilisation at primary healthcare centres to enhance transparency, accountability and data-driven decision-making.
She added that more than 1,000 healthcare providers across 614 empanelled facilities had been trained, while a phone-based feedback survey was piloted among vulnerable beneficiaries in selected local government areas under the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative.
Activities lined up to mark the 2025 UHC Day in Kano, she said, include the distribution of relief items to vulnerable groups and the launch of informal sector enrolment across the state.
