Director General/Chief Executive, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, mentioned whole medical health insurance enrolment has risen to over 23 million, including that it’s scaling up maternal and new child healthcare interventions.
He mentioned the authority had additionally expanded monetary safety for Nigerians confronting most cancers, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB).
He spoke on the inaugural Civil Society Organisation (CSO)-led Mid-Year Review of the National Health Sector Reforms in Abuja.
Ohiri mentioned the authority was more and more shifting its focus from placing the coverage and legislative framework for common well being protection in place to making sure that insurance coverage membership translated into precise entry to healthcare, monetary safety and measurable outcomes.
According to him, the crucial measure of the insurance coverage system ought to now not be the variety of Nigerians carrying insurance coverage information, however whether or not these information present significant safety when sickness strikes.
The shift is especially evident in most cancers care, the place the NHIA had launched a cost-sharing association with pharmaceutical firm Roche for chosen oncology medicines.
Under the association, Roche bears 50 per cent of the price, the NHIA contributes 30 per cent, whereas sufferers pay the remaining 20 per cent.
NhIA had additionally launched assist starting from as much as ₦400,000 to full protection for eligible radiotherapy sufferers, complementing present most cancers advantages overlaying providers together with mammography, CT and MRI scans, bone scans, cancer-related diagnostic assessments and radiotherapy.
Ohiri mentioned the early outcomes from the partnership demonstrated the potential of collaboration between authorities, insurers, healthcare suppliers and pharmaceutical firms to cut back the monetary burden related to high-cost illnesses
He mentioned, “For us, coverage has to mean something when people become ill. Cancer is one of the clearest examples of why health insurance matters.”
He added that the difficulty was not merely whether or not a service was coated however whether or not sufferers and their households may bear the price of remedy.
Beyond most cancers, the NHIA is utilizing the Global Fund Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) grant to increase monetary safety to folks residing with HIV and sufferers receiving remedy for TB.
As of September 3, 2026, greater than 51,000 folks had been enrolled underneath the intervention throughout Anambra, Ebonyi, Gombe and Kwara States.
The beneficiaries comprise greater than 46,000 main beneficiaries and about 3,700 family members.
Of the first beneficiaries, greater than 38,000 are folks residing with HIV, whereas over 7,400 are sufferers with drug-sensitive TB and 594 are receiving remedy for drug-resistant TB.
He furtuer disclosed that the NHIA had additionally begun accrediting greater than 2,000 healthcare services in preparation for the Global Fund GC8 implementation, with plans for nationwide enlargement of HIV/AIDS and TB insurance coverage protection in 2027.
The authority’s maternal and new child well being interventions have additionally recorded measurable positive factors, with greater than 93,000 girls and newborns reached by way of its Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) and Fistula-Free programmes.
The determine includes 79,221 girls, 7,500 newborns and 6,044 girls handled for obstetric fistula.
The programmes function nationwide throughout the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory by way of 286 CEmONC-empanelled services and 22 National Obstetric Fistula Centres and associate services.
More than 40,000 girls have additionally been enrolled by way of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
Ohiri mentioned the intervention was producing enhancements in maternal outcomes, with case fatality at taking part maternal well being services declining by 22 per cent, from 1,042 recorded within the 2024 baseline to 810 as of August 2026.
The wider insurance coverage enlargement had additionally introduced over 2.7 million poor and susceptible Nigerians into protection by way of the BHCPF.
While enrolment has expanded, the Authority has concurrently intensified efforts to implement sufferers’ rights and enhance the standard of providers offered to enrollees.
According to Ohiri, the NHIA has resolved 3,878 complaints from enrollees and refunded greater than ₦14.2 million to affected beneficiaries.
It has additionally issued 368 warning letters to healthcare suppliers and suspended 9 services over recognized infractions.
Inspection groups have been deployed to healthcare services to observe compliance with the Authority’s one-hour remedy authorisation coverage and different necessities referring to affected person safety and high quality of care.
The reforms have additionally affected funds to healthcare suppliers, with capitation growing by 93 per cent and fee-for-service reimbursements rising by 378 per cent.
In addition, greater than 7,500 healthcare services have undergone digital evaluation underneath the SecureCare high quality framework because the NHIA seeks to strengthen requirements throughout the medical health insurance supply chain.
Ohiri mentioned the reforms indicated that the insurance coverage system was starting to maneuver past enrolment statistics in the direction of a broader framework overlaying entry, supplier accountability, high quality assurance, affected person rights and monetary safety.
He mentioned, “We have moved from policy and legislation to measurable implementation. The next task is to move from coverage to reliable access, from reliable access to better health outcomes, and from insurance membership to genuine financial protection,” he mentioned.
However, the NHIA chief acknowledged that the 23-million-plus enrolment determine, whereas representing substantial progress, additionally underscored the size of the remaining protection hole.
He mentioned hundreds of thousands of Nigerians had been nonetheless outdoors the medical health insurance system, making sustained enlargement and improved service supply important to attaining common well being protection.
He mentioned, “We have made substantial progress, but we are not where we need to be. Over 23 million Nigerians covered is significant, but it also tells us that there are many more Nigerians who are still outside the system.”
James Emejo
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