NHIA expands insurance support for cancer treatment

The National Health Insurance Authority has expanded insurance support for cancer treatment as part of efforts to reduce the financial burden of the disease on patients and their families.

The authority said the measures include an arrangement that shields eligible patients from 80 per cent of the cost of selected cancer medicines, as well as increased support for radiotherapy, diagnostic tests and other aspects of cancer care.

In a statement issued on Sunday to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the NHIA said the interventions aimed to ensure that health insurance offered meaningful financial protection against high-cost illnesses rather than merely increasing enrolment figures.

“The critical measure of the insurance system should no longer be the number of Nigerians carrying insurance records, but whether those records provide meaningful protection when illness strikes,” the NHIA Director-General, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, said.

According to the authority, cancer treatment can impose high costs on households because patients may require repeated diagnostic tests, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and specialised medicines.

Under an expanded cost-sharing partnership between the NHIA and pharmaceutical company Roche, the company bears 50 per cent of the cost of selected oncology medicines, while the NHIA contributes 30 per cent and eligible patients pay the remaining 20 per cent.

The arrangement effectively covers 80 per cent of the cost of the selected medicines for beneficiaries. The authority also said it had introduced additional financial support ranging from N400,000 to full coverage for eligible radiotherapy patients.

“Under the cost-sharing arrangement, Roche bears 50 per cent of the cost of selected medicines, the NHIA contributes 30 per cent, while the patient pays 20 per cent. The initiative shields eligible patients from 80 per cent of the cost of the affected medicines.

“NHIA has also introduced additional support ranging from up to N400,000 to full coverage for eligible radiotherapy patients, complementing existing benefits for cancer care. These include mammography, CT and MRI scans, bone scans, cancer-related laboratory and diagnostic tests and radiotherapy,” the statement read.

Other cancer-related benefits covered under its programmes include mammography, CT and MRI scans, bone scans, laboratory and diagnostic tests, and radiotherapy.

Depending on the applicable benefit package, the insurance programmes also provide support for screening, surgery, chemotherapy and follow-up care. The NHIA said the measures were particularly important because of the scale of Nigeria’s cancer burden and the high out-of-pocket expenditure associated with treatment.

Citing figures from the Global Cancer Observatory, the authority said Nigeria records an estimated 32,278 new breast cancer cases and 16,332 deaths from the disease annually.

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It added that breast cancer remained the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Nigerian women and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the country.

The statement also cited a Federal Government disclosure in July 2026 that Nigeria accounted for about 10.5 per cent of Africa’s cancer burden, placing the country among the three most affected on the continent.

The authority said treatment costs could expose families to prolonged financial pressure, particularly because advanced treatment abroad was beyond the reach of most Nigerians while locally available treatment could also be expensive.

More than 23 million Nigerians are currently enrolled in the national health insurance system, according to the NHIA, which said the expanding pool provided a platform for extending interventions for cancer and other high-cost diseases.

The authority said its interventions complemented the Federal Government’s broader cancer prevention and treatment programme under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

Nigeria is implementing the National Cancer Control Plan 2026–2030, which covers prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, patient navigation, survivorship, research, data management and expansion of the oncology workforce.

The government is also upgrading six Oncology Centres of Excellence across the country.

According to the statement, centres at the University College Hospital, Ibadan; University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin; University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu; and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, are already fully operational with specialised equipment, including brachytherapy machines.

Other initiatives include the Cancer Access Partnership programme, through which 27 anti-cancer medicines in 48 formulations are provided across 14 federal tertiary hospitals, as well as the Cancer Health Fund for indigent patients with breast, cervical and prostate cancers.

The NHIA, however, acknowledged that the interventions were not sufficient to address the country’s cancer burden. “As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, the Authority urged women to pay close attention to changes in their breasts, seek medical advice promptly and take advantage of screening opportunities where available,” the statement said.

It added that reducing deaths and financial hardship from breast cancer would require stronger public awareness, earlier diagnosis, wider access to treatment and financing mechanisms capable of preventing illness from pushing households into financial distress.