 and Roche have expanded their cancer care partnership to more hospitals in Nigeria){kind=link}
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has announced the nationwide scale-up of its cancer treatment cost-sharing initiative in partnership with global pharmaceutical giant Roche. This development is set to increase access to affordable, life-saving chemotherapy for cancer patients across Nigeria, with more accredited hospitals now offering subsidized cancer care under the scheme.
Disclosing this at the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) in Lagos, the NHIA Director-General, Dr. Kelechi Ohiri—represented by Mrs. Aisha Haruna, Deputy Director for the Lagos Zone—stated that more medical facilities have been onboarded to join the cost-sharing framework initially launched with five tertiary hospitals.
According to Ohiri, “An MoU was signed with Roche for cost-sharing on cancer medications for NHIA enrollees. While the pilot began with five teaching hospitals, we have now scaled up access to more facilities so that eligible patients can benefit. Under this model, Roche covers 50% of the cost, NHIA shoulders 30%, and the patient pays only 20%.”
The partnership, targeting affordability for expensive chemotherapy drugs, also applies a flat ₦10,000 service fee per treatment cycle. This is part of NHIA’s broader strategy to ease the financial burden of chronic disease management on Nigerian families and reduce cancer-related mortality, especially among low-income earners.
In a significant expansion of its health coverage programs, NHIA also revealed progress on two key maternal health interventions: the Fistula-Free Initiative and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CEmOC) financing. These schemes have collectively empowered over 7,500 women by May 2025.
Data shared at the event showed that:
2,690 women underwent successful obstetric fistula repairs at 17 dedicated centres, restoring their dignity and improving quality of life.
5,289 women received emergency obstetric interventions across over 200 CEmOC-certified facilities nationwide.
“These achievements mark a turning point in women’s health access in Nigeria,” Haruna said. “Fistula care is not just a medical intervention—it’s about restoring hope and ensuring reproductive dignity.”
To further strengthen healthcare delivery, NHIA has implemented several reforms since 2024. These include revising tariffs, improving complaint resolution timelines, imposing sanctions on defaulting HMOs and healthcare providers, and enhancing the accreditation framework to meet international standards.
“We are now fully automated in accrediting NHIA facilities, using Safe Care tools and platforms with over 100 quality benchmarks. Any facility that passes this process can compete globally,” Haruna added.
NHIA has accredited over 192 facilities in Lagos and plans to begin a system-wide re-accreditation exercise to ensure sustained compliance with upgraded standards. Facilities failing to meet the new thresholds will be delisted from the NHIA platform.
These efforts signal a strategic pivot in NHIA’s approach—from merely enrolling Nigerians in health insurance to ensuring that those enrollees receive high-quality, timely, and affordable care.
As non-communicable diseases like cancer, hypertension, and diabetes continue to rise across Nigeria, the partnership with Roche sets a promising precedent for public-private collaboration in healthcare financing. It also aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s push for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.