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Lagos unveils healthcare insurance scheme for indigent, vulnerable residents

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The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) has launched a social health insurance scheme for indigent residents in the state.

Tagged ‘EKO Social Health Alliance (EKOSHA)’, the scheme aims to ensure the provision and accessibility of quality healthcare services to the vulnerable and indigent.

The event was held on Wednesday at an event centre at Providence Hotel in Ikeja.

EKOSHA is the domestic resource mobilisation arm of LASHMA, designated to raise additional funds through multiple sources to pay premiums for vulnerable residents to complement the state government’s efforts for sustainable coverage.

Speaking at the event, Emmanuella Zamba, general manager of LASHMA, said the initiative is to ensure everyone has access to basic healthcare services that are of high quality and affordable.

She said LASHMA has been able to enroll over 230,000 vulnerable and indigents in the scheme.

“To ensure that equal opportunity is given to those who cannot afford to pay ILERA EKO premium and in line with section 20 of the LSHS law, which indicates that the agency should ensure the availability of alternative sources of funding to the health sector for improved services, the agency established EKO Social Health Alliance (EKOSHA) to care for the health insurance premium of the vulnerable and indigents in our midst,” she said.

“This, of course, will go a long way in making life meaningful to the vulnerable and indigents in our society.

“Our targets, of course, include vulnerable/indigent persons as defined in the LSHS Law; members of the Lagos state social register (LSSR); vulnerable persons living with special conditions such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, sickle cell anaemia, and lupus; victims of sexual and domestic violence; teen moms; the destitute; persons in orphanages and elderly homes, as well as other vulnerable groups as determined by the agency.”

She added that the vulnerable are identified through a rapid poverty assessment tool that will confirm if such persons can pay or not.

She thanked Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor, his wife, and donors for their contribution to the scheme.

Akin Abayomi, Lagos commissioner for health, described the scheme as a laudable initiative, adding that the objectives of EKOSHA will improve the health indices of Lagos.

“Since the commencement of access to care for the vulnerable on the ILERA EKO social health plan in 2020, a total of N750 million has been disbursed as equity fund, in addition to the basic healthcare provision fund (BHCPF), and sponsorships from a few individuals/organisations, to provide health insurance for the vulnerable residents of the state,” Abayomi said.

“This group of people is spread across the 57 LGA/LCDAs of the state, including members of elderly and orphanage homes; vulnerable persons living with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, sickle cell anemia, and also victims of domestic and sexual violence.

“EKOSHA will collaborate with social welfare and empowerment MDAs/ organisations to provide a means of livelihood for these beneficiaries, such that they do not remain dependent and can eventually afford to pay health insurance premiums for themselves.”

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DHQ declares eight wanted over murder of army personnel in Delta

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The Defence Headquarters has declared eight persons wanted in connection to the killing of army personnel in Okuama community, Delta state.

The 17 army personnel were killed on March 14 during an operation in the community.

DHQ named those declared wanted as Akeywiru Omotegbono, Ekpekpo Arthur, Andaowei Bakrikri, Igoli Ebi, Akata David, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Oghenerukevwe and Reuben Baru.

The names of the deceased soldiers are A.H Ali, D.E Obi, S.D. Ashafa, U. Zakari, , Yahaya Saidu, Danbaba Yahaya, Kabir Bashir, Abdullahi Ibrahim, Bulus Haruna, Sole Opeyemi, Bello Anas, Alhaji Isah, Clement Francis, Abubakar Ali, Adamu Ibrahim, Hamman Peter, and Ibrahim Adamu.

After the killing of the army personnel, President Bola Tinubu and the military high command promised that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

On Wednesday, the personnel were buried at the military cemetery in Abuja and were posthumously conferred with national honours by President Tinubu.

The president also offered scholarships to children of the late officers.

Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late personnel at the military cemetery in Abuja, Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff (COAS), said it was “highly demoralising” that the soldiers were killed by those they were equipped to protect.

The army chief added that it took over 72 hours of searching to recover the vital organs of some of the deceased soldiers.

He added that the Nigerian Army exercised “a lot of restraint” in the search for missing arms and body parts of the deceased soldiers.

The army chief also said some of the widows of the slain officers are pregnant.

“The Okuama killing has added to the care of the Nigerian Army and, by extension, the Nigerian state, 10 widows, three of whom are four, five, and eight months pregnant, 21 orphans, and many other dependents, which include parents,” Lagbaja said.

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Flights disrupted as protests rock Port Harcourt airport

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Flight have been disrupted at the Port Harcourt International Airport, after the people of Omagwa and Ipo communities in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, barricaded the entrance while protesting lack of power supply and other amenities.

It has grounded operations at the airport and passengers are stranded.

The situation has also caused a gridlock stretching from the Airport Road to adjoining communities.

The protesters, who trooped out as early as 7am on Wednesday, lamented that despite hosting the international airport and suffering from noise pollution daily, they are not paid any form of compensation and there are no good schools in the area.

One of the protesters, who gave his name as Oki, accused the airport authorities of neglect, saying, “We in Omagwa and Ipo don’t have light for over 10 years. We want compensation for the noise pollution coming from the airport every day. We are tired. That is why we are here. ”

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Nigerian female engineer, Kemisola Bolarinwa invents smart bra to detect breast cancer

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Nigerian robotics and embedded systems engineer, Kemisola Bolarinwa, has invented a smart bra capable of diagnosing early-stage breast cancer before symptoms develop.

Bolarinwa made the invention known to the world in February 2022, by designing the prototype of the smart bra, which was spurred by the death of her loved one in 2017.

She said before the death of her aunt, she rarely paid any attention to breast cancer because it was just something she heard on the TV or radio.

Bolarinwa, the founder and chief executive officer of Nextwear Technologies, the first wearable technology startup in Nigeria, said she was moved to invent the smart bra, after frequent visits to the hospital where her aunt was before she died.

She said seeing other women battling breast cancer was painful, and her efforts to intensify research into the invention were increased.

Her invention was recognised by BBC Africa, adding that she spent a year and a half of intense research, before the smart bra came up in 2019.

How the smart bra works

To detect lumps in the breast, the smart bra repurposes ultrasound technology into a small form factor, with the initiative to shrink down an ultrasound machine to a portable size where it becomes wearable.

According to Bolarinwa, this was possible with nanotechnology — a branch of science, technology, and engineering that deals with the manufacturing of tech in small sizes.

For more context, the smart bra uses an ultrasound system called the Doppler that bounces high-frequency sound waves off the body to detect blood clots, heart defects, and blocked arteries. This works differently from ultrasound machines that use sound waves to generate images of the scanned area.

More work on the smart bra
After years of research and developing a prototype, she revealed there are still a lot of work to be achieved on the smart bra before it can be commercialised.

Bolarinwa said the smart bra still needs further development and extensive clinical trials and gave a time frame between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 for mass production.

Aside from being an inventor, Bolarinwa is also a strong advocate for getting more women interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), something she was passionate about growing up.

Bolarinwa called for more work on research for inventions to be effective in solving the problems they are designed for while lamenting there are not adequate research organisations to help.

She said, “In four months, a fintech platform will be built and be ready for the market. This is one of the reasons why few people play in the hardware or deep tech side of technology in Africa. There aren’t enough research institutes.”

Who she is
Bolarinwa holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering from the University of Ado-Ekiti (now Ekiti State University).

She has more than 10 years of experience exceptional tech skills and strong problem-solving skills, and is passionate about solving complex problems and staying up-to-date with the latest technologies.

Bolarinwa is an inventor, innovator, entrepreneur, and president of the Women In ICT Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on providing technology education, leadership, and businesses for women and young girls to resolve problems of the under-representation of women in leadership, policy-making, and math-intensive fields of science and technology.

Nigeria is endowed with exceptional and skilled inventors such as the 70-year-old man who developed more than inventions, but the challenge they are faced with is the lack of support from the government and other recognised agencies or entrepreneurs to sponsor their research and inventions.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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