Favour Olaleye
The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) has disclosed that its Assistance-In-Distress (LASHMA-AID) emergency healthcare programme has attended to 132 life-threatening cases since its commencement in March 2026, saving 110 lives.
The Permanent Secretary of LASHMA, Dr Emmanuella Zamba, disclosed this on Monday at the agency’s LASHMA-AID Multi-Stakeholders’ Engagement held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), CBD, Alausa, Ikeja.
Zamba said 22 people died despite interventions under the programme, attributing the deaths to the severity of injuries sustained by the patients.
She said the figures demonstrated both the impact of the emergency intervention programme and the scale of the challenge facing Lagos in providing timely medical care to residents during critical situations.
“Since the commencement of LASHMA-AID in March 2026, a total of 132 lives have been attended to under the programme. Out of this number, 110 lives were saved, while 22 mortalities were recorded due to the severity of the injuries sustained,” Zamba said.
The LASHMA boss said vulnerable residents accounted for the largest proportion of beneficiaries, with 106 indigent residents receiving assistance, while 23 beneficiaries were ILERA EKO enrollees and three were Eko Social Health Alliance (EKOSHA) enrollees.
According to her, the Agency also paid health insurance premiums for the vulnerable beneficiaries and their immediate family members.
Zamba said the high number of vulnerable beneficiaries raised important questions about how residents unable to afford health insurance or emergency medical bills would have coped without the intervention.
“The second thing is the indigent population that constitutes the highest proportion. What would have been the fate of these vulnerable residents who could not afford to pay for health insurance, let alone the huge medical bills that are incurred during emergencies?” she asked.
She said the programme was established following an executive order by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu making social health insurance mandatory for Lagos residents.
Zamba explained that the policy required healthcare facilities to stabilise patients facing life-threatening emergencies without demanding proof of enrolment or evidence of health insurance coverage.
She said the initiative was introduced against the backdrop of public concerns over preventable deaths linked to delays in accessing emergency medical care.
“Through LASHMA-AID, we want Lagos residents to know that the Government is listening and that their concerns about access to emergency healthcare are being heard,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary disclosed that Ikeja, Badagry, Ogba and Lagos Island recorded the highest number of emergency pickups under the programme.
She added that ambulance operations accounted for 76 emergency transports carried out by the Lagos State Ambulance Service Agency (LASASA) and four private ambulance operators.
Other emergencies, she said, were handled through LASHMA-AID facility focal persons using the programme’s toll-free emergency line, 080-000-LASHMA-AID (080-000-52862-243), as well as through the intervention of Good Samaritans.
Zamba commended LASASA, private ambulance operators, public and private hospitals, social welfare officers and Good Samaritans for their roles in providing emergency care and helping to save lives.
She, however, said the rising number of cases meant stakeholders needed to prepare for a potentially higher demand for emergency services as public awareness of LASHMA-AID increases.
“If within the first six months of LASHMA-AID’s commencement we have recorded these number of cases, with our continuously increasing case load rate and heightened public awareness, the number of lives to be saved by this programme within the next six months, one year and beyond is, I am sure, obvious to all of us in this room,” she said.
Zamba said the stakeholders’ meeting was therefore convened to identify operational gaps and challenges and develop collective solutions that would improve emergency response and reduce avoidable deaths.
She urged stakeholders to remain committed to ensuring timely intervention for residents in distress.
“The survival of Lagos residents during emergencies is in our hands,” she said.
