By Doris Obinna
The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) and its Permanent Secretary, Dr Emmanuella Zamba, have won the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), The Presidency, 2026 awards for excellence in digital health delivery and public sector innovation.
While LASHMA clinched the Best State MDA in Digital Health Service Delivery Award, Zamba received the GOVTECH Trailblazer’s Award for her leadership in driving technology adoption, innovation and institutional transformation.
The awards were presented at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, by the Director-General of BPSR, Mr Dasuki Arabi, who commended LASHMA for deploying digital solutions to expand access to social health insurance in Lagos State.
Arabi said the agency emerged winner after a nationwide nomination process and an independent comparative review that recognised its digital transformation of enrolment, payments and regulatory processes.
He noted that organisations can now apply and pay online for their Corporate Identification Number (CIN), while LASHMA’s unified database supports nearly two million ILERA EKO enrollees, including more than 200,000 self-registrations.
According to him, over 800 healthcare providers are digitally connected to the agency, which processes about 80,000 pre-authorisations and claims monthly.
He also highlighted LASHMA’s telemedicine services, virtual health booths, customer relationship management system and digital vulnerability assessment as innovations improving access, responsiveness and service delivery.
Arabi added that the ILERA EKO Spotlight Online Radio had strengthened public engagement, communication and awareness of health insurance.
He urged the agency to sustain its innovations and intensify enrolment into ILERA EKO to accelerate Lagos State’s drive towards universal health coverage.
“The result of hard work is more work,” he said, urging LASHMA to build on its achievements.
Receiving the awards, Zamba thanked the Bureau for recognising the agency’s efforts to provide Lagos residents with quality, affordable and equitable healthcare.
She pledged that LASHMA would intensify efforts to enrol more residents in ILERA EKO, reduce catastrophic health expenditure and curb out-of-pocket payments for medical bills.
The latest recognition brings to four the number of awards received by LASHMA in 2026.