President Bola Tinubu has approved a subsidy on kidney dialysis for Nigerians in 11 hospitals, reducing the cost for Nigerians from N50,000 to N12,000.
The subsidy is being implemented across the six geopolitical zones at some federal medical institutions.
Participating institutions include the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute-Metta Lagos, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jabi, Abuja, the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) Maiduguri.
Others are the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Abeokuta, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Lagos, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Azare, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Benin, and University of Calabar Teaching (UCTH) Calabar.
The subsidy was launched in January at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital in Bauchi.
According to Hammatu Haruna, the manager-in-charge of the renal centre at the teaching hospital, the subsidy has brought significant relief to patients.
“They are now paying only N12,000, and our patients are very happy with this initiative. We have seen remarkable improvement in their condition,” she said.
“Even after hearing the cost, they often had to go back and sell something before they could afford treatment. Some even preferred to stay at home because they simply could not afford it,” she added.
“We appreciate the federal government of Nigeria; they have given us the necessary support. We have almost everything at hand,” she said.
The subsidy comes amid growing concerns over increasing kidney failure cases in Nigeria.
Maina stated that the team plans to interview 2,000 residents in Bade and Damaturu LGAs to determine whether the rising cases are linked to environmental, lifestyle-related, or genetic factors.