Cancer patients in Nigeria requiring radiotherapy will now benefit from up to N400,000 in financial support under a new cost-sharing initiative introduced by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
The NHIA Director-General, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, disclosed this in Abuja during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), explaining that the intervention was aimed at reducing the financial burden of cancer treatment and improving access to care.
Under the new arrangement, eligible patients will receive a 50 per cent reduction in radiotherapy costs, with the NHIA’s contribution capped at N400,000 per patient.
Ohiri said the initiative was introduced in response to the increasing cost of cancer treatment, which has made it difficult for many Nigerians, particularly patients with advanced cases, to access radiotherapy.
He said the authority was collaborating with oncology centres across the country to improve the availability and quality of radiotherapy services.
According to him, the NHIA is also working towards accrediting additional treatment centres while strengthening partnerships with medical equipment manufacturers, suppliers and pharmaceutical companies to expand access to modern cancer treatment.
Ohiri explained that the intervention extends beyond radiotherapy, noting that the NHIA is expanding insurance coverage for several cancer-related services under its formal sector programme and the Group Individual and Family Social Health Insurance Programme (GIFSHIP).
Covered diagnostic services include MRI and CT scans, mammography, ultrasound, histology, endoscopy and tumour marker tests.
The NHIA boss added that some cancer-related surgical procedures, including mastectomies and prostatectomies, as well as selected chemotherapy drugs, are also covered under various cost-sharing arrangements.
He further disclosed that more than 200 cancer patients receiving treatment at seven tertiary health institutions across the country had already benefited from the authority’s medicine cost-sharing programme.