The National Health Insurance Authority on Thursday in Ilorin organised a One-day stakeholders forum for Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) Health Care Facilities (HCFs) and Ministries, Departmental and Agencies (MDAs) on best practices.
Alhaji Ahmed Yahaya, the Kwara Coordinator of NHIA, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), at the sidelines of the event, explained that it is part of the agenda of the Authority to organise routine forum and meet with stakeholders on best practices expected from them and the mandate of the agency.
He emphasized that the Authority is revitalizing and improving the mandate of the organisation to ensure all Nigerians are capture in the health scheme.
Yahaya told NAN, that the new Act of the Authority has ensured that diseases like cancer are captured in the scheme.
He explained that the Authority will fund 30 percent of cancer drugs, the patient will contribute 20 percent, while pharmaceutical company will fund 50 percent of the cost of the drugs.
He observed that cancer drugs are very expensive, hence the Authority deems it fit to save the lives of the citizens by also part funding the cost of the drug.
“It is a way of cushioning the cost of drugs for the cancer patient under the scheme. It’s an expensive drug, so that is why the Authority is partnering with ROCHE pharmaceutical company, so that the effect can be minimised,” he said.
According to him, Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide.
Also speaking, Mr Adelaja Abereoran, the General Manager, North Central ‘A’Zonal office for Kwara, Kogi and Niger explained that the programme revolves around highlighting the new Act of the authority to the stakeholders.
Abereoran stated that it is expected to enlighten the NHIA partners on the new improved workings of the authority from the former NHIS.
He explained that health insurance was now mandatory for all Nigerians, and NHIA was expected to capture the citizens across board.
“The new Act of NHIA mandates that by law every Nigerian will get health insurance, and requires all employers and employees in the public and private sectors in the formal and informal sectors to be captured in the scheme,” he said.
He stated that this is a major step towards the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The General Manager of North Central of NHIA observed that the new Act clearly defines the roles of the authority, including promoting, regulating and integrating health insurance schemes to all.
He explained further that the Authority had massively employed medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses and lab technicians across the 36 states, with the additional two offices situated in Lagos.
“One of the things we are doing is improving on our Quality Assurance Monitoring because of the increase in our personnel across the country.
“They go out to different senatorial district to ensure healthcare facilities are maintaining standards so that enrollees are being treated, while we also get value for money, ” he said.
