Category: Health

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, has emphasised that reforms being carried out by the Federal government in the health sector are aimed at saving lives, reducing financial hardship, and ensuring equitable access to care.

Speaking on developments since 2023, while appearing on a TVC magazine programme last Thursday, Pate said the health agenda of the administration of President Bola Tinubu is anchored on improving outcomes while providing financial protection.

“Nobody should be left behind,” he emphasized, adding that reforms are designed to ensure that access is matched with affordability and equity.

He noted that Nigerian households still carry a heavy out-of-pocket health burden, making expanded insurance coverage a priority.

Reforms at the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), he said, have raised tariffs for capitation by 95 percent and for secondary services by nearly 300 percent in two years, strengthening the regulator’s capacity.

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A major shift, Pate explained, was President Tinubu’s directive making health insurance mandatory for all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and backed by strict compliance.

“What it means is that the risk pool is being expanded. We’ll see an accelerated pace of improvement in enrollment,” he said, noting that over the last 18 months, more than four million Nigerians have been enrolled, bringing coverage to 20 million for the first time.

While acknowledging the long road ahead, Pate described it as a major uptick toward universal coverage, urging the private sector to also insure their workers.

“A healthy, protected employee is a happy, productive, and loyal employee,” he said, noting that NHIA has developed a digital enrollment portal to ease access.

The federal government, he added, is subsidizing vulnerable groups, paying ₦15,000 annually for the poor through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and ₦37,000 per enrollee for employees.

“That allows us to have a risk pool that enables NHIA and others to pay for services, while ensuring access is affordable. The target is to reach at least 44 million Nigerians by 2030, he added.

According to him, thousands of women have benefited from free cesarean sections and obstetric fistula repairs reimbursed through NHIA.

In addition, a Catastrophic Health Insurance Fund has been created to cushion the cost of illnesses like cancer, kidney disease, and spinal conditions, he explained, noting, “For many households, this is not an abstraction.

“Families sell assets or borrow when a member falls seriously ill. Government is now putting mechanisms in place to ease that burden”.

Pate also highlighted NHIA’s strengthened regulatory role, with mechanisms in place for clients to lodge complaints and for Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) to be sanctioned where necessary.

The regulator, he said, ensures providers deliver contracted care packages and reimburse claims promptly.

On health financing, he recalled that in December 2023, international partners pledged $3.3 billion to support reforms but stressed that domestic funding remains the backbone of Nigeria’s health system.

“At the end of the day, domestic financing is the key driver,” he said, urging states and the private sector to match federal efforts.

He described the recent four-day National Health Financing Dialogue as a milestone that brought together over 2,000 participants, including governors, ministers, donors, academics, and civil society.

The dialogue, he explained, focused on mobilizing and pooling resources, allocating them efficiently, purchasing services wisely, and ensuring accountability.

According to him, the impact is already visible: “Utilization of primary healthcare services in areas supported by the federal government has increased significantly.

“In the first quarter of 2025, there were 37 million visits nationwide from January to March, compared to just about 10 million a quarter in 2023. From April to June, the figure rose to 46 million visits,” he disclosed.

While some of the increase reflects better data capture, Pate stressed it is also evidence that Nigerians are beginning to recognize the benefits of the reforms.

He noted that health workers have been retrained and commodities are improving, drawing international attention.

“We have received an entire delegation from the Senegalese Ministry of Health, as well as their Ministries of budget and finance, who came to study Nigeria’s reforms. What the President is doing in Nigeria’s health sector is being noticed across the continent and globally,” he said.

In oncology, large-scale investments are underway to expand cancer treatment facilities across the country’s geopolitical zones. New oncology centres have been established in Sokoto and reactivated in Maiduguri at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

Similar projects were inaugurated in Katsina, Benin, and Enugu, while two linear accelerators at the National Hospital, Abuja, are being restored under a new service-level agreement with private partners.

Additionally, he said radiotherapy machines are being deployed at Jos University Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, and LUTH, where existing capacity is also being expanded.

“These investments are not only in oncology but also in diagnostics, backed by public sector funding through NSIA’s MEDSA initiative, and complemented by private facilities like Marcelle Ruth in Lagos, which is already attracting patients from across West Africa,” he noted.

He said to address affordability, the administration linked new facilities with expanded insurance coverage.

In 2025, President Tinubu approved ₦25 billion for a Catastrophic Health Insurance Fund under NHIA, targeted at cancer, kidney failure, and other high-burden conditions.

NHIA is developing operational mechanisms to deploy the funds, with the Ministry of Finance and Budget providing additional support, he added.

On dialysis, Pate explained that in 2024, consumables were supplied to eight federal tertiary hospitals to lower the cost of each session from about ₦50,000 to ₦12,000.

“This is a major reduction that has already benefited many Nigerians,” he said, adding that kidney disease prevention remains crucial, with hypertension and diabetes as the main drivers.

“The best path forward is prevention, controlling blood pressure and diabetes, early screening, and initiatives like the Know Your Numbers campaign. Waiting until dialysis becomes necessary is not sustainable,” he said.

Beyond treatment, Pate praised the sacrifices of over 300,000 health workers nationwide, noting that the government has invested in upgrading infrastructure, retraining, and building trust with unions.

“In the last two years, we have enjoyed relative peace in the sector. We resolved disputes with nurses and doctors through constructive engagement and collective bargaining mechanisms.

“Many grievances were long-standing, but we’ve worked with unions and leadership to prioritize the Nigerian patient,” he explained.

“As more revenues flow from economic reforms, we will channel them into financing health. These difficult choices are now translating into visible improvements in oncology, dialysis, insurance, and workforce stability,” Pate said.