Officials say programme for life-threatening emergencies has saved 34 people since March rollout
By Bunmi Yekini
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday handed over a 22-year-old woman and her newborn daughter to officials from Plateau State after providing weeks of emergency medical care under a state-funded programme for vulnerable residents.
The woman, Tingni Kindness, was found unconscious while pregnant in the Allen area of Lagos on June 6 and was rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) after emergency responders alerted the Lagos State Health Management Agency’s Assistance in Distress (LASHMA-AID) programme, officials said.According to LASHMA Permanent Secretary Emmanuella Zamba, the agency immediately secured a hospital bed for the woman after receiving a call from the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), enabling doctors to begin treatment without delay.Kindness later gave birth to a baby girl on June 21 while still receiving care at the hospital, Zamba said during a handover ceremony at LASUTH in Ikeja.
The case highlights the role of Lagos State’s emergency health financing initiative, launched under an executive order signed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to ensure that residents facing life-threatening medical emergencies receive stabilisation and treatment regardless of their ability to pay.
Zamba said the programme was funded through the state’s Equity Fund for vulnerable residents and a portion of premiums paid by enrollees in the ILERA EKO health insurance scheme.
She said the agency had saved 34 lives since the programme became fully operational in March 2026, including eight ILERA EKO enrollees and 26 vulnerable residents.”We are here today to commend LASUTH and draw the attention of everyone home and abroad to what the Lagos State Government is doing towards providing emergency services to ILERA EKO enrollees and the vulnerable,” Zamba said.
She urged the Plateau State Government to provide accommodation and livelihood support for Kindness so she could care for her child.
LASUTH Chief Medical Director Adetokunbo Fabamwo said the woman was unconscious when she arrived at the hospital but was stabilised after receiving immediate treatment.
He said she was not in labour on admission but went into labour while arrangements were being made to transfer her to temporary accommodation because she had no place to stay.Following the birth, the hospital contacted the Plateau State Liaison Office in Lagos to arrange for the mother and child to return home safely, Fabamwo said.
Representing the Plateau State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Principal Administrative Officer of the state’s Lagos Liaison Office, Philomena Yakubu, thanked the Lagos State Government, LASHMA and LASUTH for what she described as a life-saving intervention for one of the state’s indigenes.
She said the Plateau State Government would ensure that both mother and child received the care and protection they needed.Kindness, speaking at the ceremony, expressed gratitude to the Lagos State Government and the medical team, saying their intervention had saved both her life and that of her baby.