The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has announced major progress in its efforts to improve healthcare access and reduce the burden of medical costs on Nigerians, particularly those battling cancer and maternal health conditions. One of the latest steps includes the onboarding of more healthcare facilities to provide cancer treatment under its cost-sharing partnership with pharmaceutical company Roche Oncology.
The NHIA, formerly known as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), made this known during the Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Association of Insurance and Pension Editors held in Lagos. The Director-General of the NHIA, Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, was represented at the event by the Deputy Director of the Lagos Zone, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar Haruna.
Speaking at the meeting, Mrs. Haruna said the initiative with Roche aims to increase access to chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients enrolled under the NHIA. She explained that the pilot phase of the partnership began with five selected teaching hospitals but has now been expanded to include more facilities across the country. This move, she noted, will enable more patients to benefit from the scheme.
Under the cost-sharing agreement, Roche is responsible for 50 per cent of the cost of specific cancer medications, NHIA covers 30 per cent, while patients are expected to pay the remaining 20 per cent. In addition to this, a service fee of N10,000 is charged per chemotherapy cycle.
“This arrangement reduces the financial burden on patients and increases access to life-saving treatments,” Haruna stated.
She also highlighted the NHIA’s Fistula-Free Initiative, which aims to support women suffering from obstetric fistula and improve maternal health care across Nigeria. As of May 2025, over 7,500 women have benefitted from the combined impact of the Fistula-Free Initiative and the Financing Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CEmOC) services.
Out of this number, 2,690 women underwent surgical repair of obstetric fistula at 17 designated centres, while 5,289 women received care at over 200 CEmOC facilities nationwide. The CEmOC programme is part of a global effort to reduce maternal deaths caused by complications during childbirth.
Between 2024 and 2025, NHIA says it has taken several steps to strengthen the national health insurance framework. These include revising treatment tariffs, penalising health management organisations (HMOs) and service providers that fail to meet standards, resolving complaints from enrollees, and introducing faster authorisation timelines.
To address the common challenge of delays in care and lack of access to medications, Haruna explained that NHIA has made significant improvements to its operations. “We used to operate semi-automatically, but we are now fully automated in our accreditation of health facilities,” she said.
She added that the agency now uses an internationally recognised platform known as the SafeCare tool, which contains more than 100 questions used to evaluate facilities’ readiness and compliance with set standards.
Currently, over 192 healthcare centres in Lagos are undergoing accreditation, and the NHIA plans to conduct reaccreditation exercises to ensure that all previously approved facilities are still maintaining quality standards. Facilities that fail to meet the updated requirements will be removed from the NHIA programme.
According to Haruna, “We have raised the bar. Any facility that cannot meet the new standard will exit the platform. This is part of our commitment to ensure Nigerians receive quality care.”
These developments underline NHIA’s strategic shift towards improving service delivery, enforcing accountability, and supporting vulnerable populations. By working with global partners like Roche, enhancing regulatory enforcement, and expanding access to critical healthcare services, the authority hopes to transform healthcare delivery in Nigeria and reduce the financial stress on families dealing with serious illnesses.
