Hot Source•5,000 get free emergency obstetrics care
Bassey Inyang in Calabar
Health Authorities in Nigeria have disclosed that about 2,690 women have so far been provided with Free Fistula Surgical Care, while over 5,000 women accessed free emergency obstetrics care between January and May 2025.
The disclosure was made by Principal Officer, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Agi Amogor, at the venue of a multi-stakeholder meeting held recently in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
Speaking on the topic, “Health Insurance in All Inclusivity,” Amogor said, “In a major boost for maternal health, the Fistula Free Programme, FFP, launched in June 2024, is tackling the estimated 4,000 new cases of obstetric fistula recorded annually in Nigeria.
“By May 2025, 2,690 women had received free fistula surgical care, while 5,289 women accessed emergency obstetric care nationwide between January and May 2025.
“In Cross River State, 247 beneficiaries have been treated, with services available at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, General Hospital Calabar, General Hospital Ogoja, Sacred Heart Hospital Obudu, and Holy Family Hospital, Ikom.”
Amogor disclosed that the successes recorded in the state were made possible by NHIA-FFP.
He said, “The scheme has enrolled 33 out of 49 identified vulnerable women under the FFP, and about 200 beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Emergency Maternal Obstetric Care (CEMOC) programme.”
Amogor stated that the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), working in collaboration with NHIA, had boosted access to essential health services in Cross River State in 195 fully operational primary health centres, and 10 secondary health facilities serving as referral hubs.
Speaking on the NHIA–Roche Cancer Initiative, Amogor said the initiative, aimed at improving access to innovative cancer medicines, and ensuring financial risk protection, had so far treated over 200 patients nationwide, many with early-stage cancers, under its cost-sharing arrangement.
He said NHIA-Roche covered 50 per cent of treatment costs, NHIA 30 per cent, and insured enrolees 20 per cent.
The programme has expanded from seven to 18 accredited centres nationwide, with three immunohistochemistry machines installed at teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt, Abuja, and Ile-Ife.
At the meeting, themed, “Charting a New Landscape in Health Insurance,” Cross River State Coordinator of NHIA, Stanley Effah, said there was need for residents to embrace social health insurance as the “gateway to quality and affordable healthcare”.
Effah said many services, including caesarean sections and certain cancer treatments, were now free or heavily subsidised under NHIA’s programmes.
“Health insurance is not just for the rich. Whether you are in the formal or informal sector, there are affordable packages to ensure you and your community can benefit from quality care without financial hardship,” Effah said.
He advised that every Nigerian should take advantage of health insurance as provided by the NHIA Act of 2022.
In his address, titled, “Health Insurance, The Imperative of a Robust, Integrated and Multi-Sectorial Approach,” Director General of Cross River State Health Insurance Agency (CRSHIA), Sir Godwin Iyala, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to reducing out-of-pocket spending and improving equitable access to healthcare.
Iyala said there was need for aggressive public awareness campaigns and advocacy for the consistent release of the equity fund and one per cent consolidated revenue fund, as well as stronger collaboration with health stakeholders to expand human resources for health, and commence full enrolment of the informal sector.
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