By FATIMA MOHAMMED-LAWAL

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) says it has enrolled over 20 million Nigerians in the health insurance scheme across Nigeria.

Alhaji Adamu Abdullahi, Acting Zonal Coordinator North Central Zone comprising Kwara, Niger and Kogi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin.

He explained that the forum aimed to enlighten the public on the authority’s policies for ensuring best practices, noting that the current reforms are geared towards optimal healthcare delivery in Nigeria.

He said that the policies were geared towards achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UCH) by 2030.

According to him, Nigeria targets to enrol 44 million people, enabling them to access affordable healthcare delivery.

“We are enlightening the stakeholders about the increase in tariff. The NHIA is ensuring efficiency through quality in service delivery.

“We are increasing the tariff in terms of capitation; there is also an increase in terms of fee for service,” he said.

He stated that the capitation fee was previously N750, but now stands at N1,450 for every registered life under health insurance.

Abdullahi also disclosed that the authority has increased the standards for accreditation and reaccreditation to align with current demands, despite challenges.

According to him, these reforms were part of the activities of the current management led by Dr Kelechi Ohiri, the NHIA Director-General.

He said that President Bola Tinubu had made health insurance enrolment compulsory for all citizens to ensure Nigerians have access to quality healthcare.

“We are working towards ensuring a drug free society, under the NHIA medicine initiative.

“We are going to have NHIA branded drugs that our enrollees can easily access,” he said.

Abdullahi also stated that to ensure enrollees do not face difficulties when accessing services, the Federal Government has introduced the ‘One-Hour Referral Authorisation Code’.

He explained that this would ensure that waiting time is reduced for enrollees when they need referrals from primary to secondary healthcare.

Also speaking, the State Coordinator, NHIA Kwara Office, Hajiya Idayat Bello-Olaitan expressed delight over the introduction of the new intervention programmes.

She listed some of the intervention to include the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEMONC) programme, designed to tackle the five leading causes of maternal mortality in Nigeria.

According to her, some of these causes are: haemorrhage, preeclampsia, sepsis, post-abortion complications, and obstructed labour.

She said other programmes include the NHIA Free Fistula Programme (FFP) and Global Fund HIV-AIDS Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DRT).

“These programmes are crucial in scaling up the Universal Health Coverage and aligning with the Renewed Hope Agenda in the health sector as directed by the president,” she said.

Olaitan disclosed that the authority is commencing “Mystery Shopping”, a monitoring and evaluation exercise conducted by NHIA officials.

She said: “The government is committed towards ensuring that enrollees don’t suffer at the point of accessing services.

“This is also to mandate all health facilities give the right treatment to all enrollees. We demand that there is quality assurance at all the healthcare facilities,” she said. (NAN)