Over 22 Million Nigerians Enrolled in Health Insurance

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) announced that over 22 million Nigerians are now under mandatory health insurance coverage, marking a 35% increase from the previous year. This progress is attributed to enhanced partnerships with state social health insurance agencies, ministries, departments, agencies, organized labor, and the private sector.

Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, the Director General of NHIA, spoke at the annual general meeting of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) in Lagos, emphasizing the need to move beyond policy formulation to deliver measurable improvements in healthcare access and service quality. The NHIA's efforts are part of the federal government's health sector reform agenda, which aims to transform the former National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) into a more robust system.

The current phase of reform faces challenges, but the NHIA is committed to ensuring that healthcare access becomes a reality for all Nigerians.