NHIA Partners Roche to Provide Patients Access to Cancer Treatment
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The National Health Insurance Authority’s (NHIA) said its landmark partnership with healthcare company, Roche, has given 55 cancer patients access to innovative cancer medicines at a subsidised cost.
It said the aim of the partnership is to ensure that affordable cancer medicines get to beneficiaries through a costs-sharing system.
A statement by the Head, Media and Public Relations at NHIA, Emmanuel Ononokpono, said that under the arrangement, Roche will pay 50 per cent, the NHIA pays 30 per cent, while the patient pays 20 per cent.
Speaking at the presentation of progress report of the partnership, the Director General, NHIA, Prof. Mohammed Sambo, said: “This partnership shows that it is helping Nigerians affected by cancer to proactively avoid financial hardship and supports them to focus on the most important thing of all: their health. We are very pleased with the impact this is having and this is why we are going to now focus on rolling this out even further, by expanding to more centres nationwide.
“I also want to use this opportunity to remind everyone that health insurance under NHIA is available to all Nigerians. We have offices across the country for purposes of enrollment so that they can access innovative treatments as being implemented under the partnership.”
Also speaking at the occasion, the
General Manager, Roche Nigeria, Dr. Ladi Hameed, said: “The barriers that are preventing access are persistent and complex, but they are solvable and together, we are making a difference. Roche is very proud to partner with the NHIA to make innovative treatments broadly, rapidly and equitably accessible to Nigerians, when they need them. We commit to continuing this partnership, and to contributing to bold solutions that support sustainable health ecosystems and a future where every Nigerian can access world-class healthcare.”
He said the partnership was inspired by three things, “the need for patients to access medicines for diagnostic solutions, the need for capacity building and policy advocacy. We clearly see that patients are starting to get the access that they need”.
The 55 patients, who have received innovative cancer care through the partnership, are enrollees of the NHIA and patients in the seven pilot centres; University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), University College Hospital (UCH) and the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe.
