The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) and its Permanent Secretary, Dr. Emmanuella Zamba, have earned national recognition, winning two prestigious honours at the 2026 Nigeria GOVTECH Public Service Awards organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms under the Presidency.
LASHMA clinched the Best State MDA in Digital Health Service Delivery Award 2026, while Dr. Zamba received the GOVTECH Trailblazer’s Award in recognition of her leadership and contributions to technological innovation and public sector transformation.
The awards were presented at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, by the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Mr. Dasuki Arabi, who commended the agency for leveraging digital technology to strengthen healthcare delivery, particularly in social health insurance.
Arabi explained that LASHMA emerged as a winner following a nationwide nomination process and an independent comparative assessment of its achievements. He highlighted the agency’s digitisation of enrolment, payment and regulatory processes, which enables corporate organisations to apply and pay electronically for their Corporate Identification Number (CIN).
According to him, LASHMA’s central database supports nearly two million ILERA EKO registrations, including over 200,000 self-registrations. The platform also connects more than 800 healthcare providers and processes approximately 80,000 pre-authorisations and claims monthly.
Other innovations recognised include telemedicine services, Virtual Health Booths, customer relationship management systems and digital vulnerability assessments. The agency’s ILERA EKO Spotlight Online Radio was also acknowledged for promoting public awareness and encouraging greater understanding of health insurance.
The Director-General urged LASHMA to sustain its digital transformation drive, expand ILERA EKO enrolment and make social health insurance more accessible as Lagos State advances towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
In her response, Dr. Zamba expressed appreciation to the Bureau for the recognition, reaffirming LASHMA’s commitment to ensuring that Lagos residents have access to quality, affordable and equitable healthcare.
She added that the agency would intensify efforts to encourage ILERA EKO enrolment, reduce catastrophic medical expenses and minimise out-of-pocket healthcare payments across the state.
The latest honours bring LASHMA’s total number of awards in 2026 to four, reinforcing the agency’s commitment to expanding healthcare access through digital innovation and social health insurance.
