NHIA says expanded cancer cover will reduce patients’ treatment costs
The National Health Insurance Authority says eligible patients will receive support covering 80 per cent of the cost of selected cancer medicines, alongside expanded assistance for radiotherapy, scans and other care. The authority says the measures are intended to limit the financial strain cancer treatment places on Nigerian households.
The National Health Insurance Authority has expanded financial support for cancer treatment, saying the measures are intended to reduce the burden on patients and their families, Punch Nigeria reports. Under a cost-sharing arrangement with pharmaceutical company Roche, the company pays 50 per cent of the cost of selected oncology medicines, while the NHIA contributes 30 per cent. Eligible patients are responsible for the remaining 20 per cent, meaning the arrangement covers 80 per cent of the selected medicines’ cost.
The authority also said it had introduced additional support of up to N400,000, or full coverage in eligible cases, for radiotherapy patients. Existing benefits include mammography, CT and MRI scans, bone scans, cancer-related laboratory tests and radiotherapy. Depending on the applicable package, programmes may also support screening, surgery, chemotherapy and follow-up care.
NHIA Director-General Kelechi Ohiri said insurance should be judged by whether it provides meaningful protection when people fall ill, rather than simply by the number of people holding insurance records. The authority said more than 23 million Nigerians are enrolled in the national health insurance system. Citing Global Cancer Observatory figures, the NHIA said Nigeria records an estimated 32,278 new breast cancer cases and 16,332 deaths annually.
It described breast cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Nigerian women and a leading cause of cancer deaths. The authority said the measures complemented wider government programmes, including the National Cancer Control Plan 2026–2030, upgrades to oncology centres and a Cancer Access Partnership supplying medicines through federal tertiary hospitals. It acknowledged that further awareness, early diagnosis, treatment access and financing would still be needed.
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