Nigeria reviews health spending as medical bills remain high
Nigeria’s Federal Government is examining whether rising health investment is improving care and protecting households from medical costs. The National Health Insurance Authority says N235bn has been released through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund over three years, while insurance enrolment has passed 23 million but out-of-pocket spending remains high.
Nigeria’s Federal Government is reviewing the effectiveness of its health financing as households continue to face high out-of-pocket medical costs, the National Health Insurance Authority said on Sunday. The authority said the government had released N235bn through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund over the past three years. It said the scale of the investment made it increasingly important to establish whether spending was producing measurable improvements.
Health insurance enrolment has risen above 23 million, according to the NHIA. However, the authority said the increase had not removed the financial pressure on patients, leaving many families exposed to substantial medical bills. The comments came ahead of the inaugural Nigeria Health Financing Research & Learning Forum, a two-day meeting beginning on Monday, September 28.
Policymakers, researchers, healthcare professionals and financing experts from Nigeria and other countries are expected to attend. The forum will consider how evidence can guide decisions on which treatments and services should receive funding, how providers should be paid and where limited resources can have the greatest effect. It will also examine how research and health data can be turned into practical financing decisions.
The NHIA said Health Technology Assessment was already being used to judge whether medicines, treatments and other interventions delivered benefits sufficient to justify their cost. It identified assessments covering kidney replacement therapy, colorectal cancer screening and advanced liver cancer treatment. The initiative is being organised by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, NHIA, Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation, Nigeria Health Watch and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research.
The stated objective is to link health spending more closely to improved services, access, patient outcomes and financial protection.
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