Nigeria’s health insurance enrolment elevated to 23.06 million individuals within the second quarter of 2026, up from 16.2 million in late 2023, the Director-General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Kelechi Ohiri, has stated.
Mr Ohiri disclosed this on Thursday whereas delivering the keynote tackle on the eleventh Future of Health Conference organised by Nigeria Health Watch in Abuja.
He stated enrolment throughout federal, state and personal health insurance schemes grew by 42.35 per cent over the interval.
However, Mr Ohiri stated rising enrolment alone wouldn’t assure entry to healthcare or shield Nigerians from monetary hardship.
“We constantly face the reality of a difference between an insurance coverage record and genuine financial risk protection,” he stated.
“An insurance card in a citizen’s pocket is meaningless if it does not grant immediate access to a functional facility, guarantee essential medicines, protect against catastrophic out-of-pocket expenses, and deliver dignity during medical emergencies.”
Improving entry and accountability
Mr Ohiri stated the NHIA had launched measures to assist enrollees perceive their advantages, entry assist and maintain healthcare suppliers accountable.
These embrace the MyNHIA cell software and a web based self-enrolment portal. He stated the authority additionally distributed enrollee charters and profit bundle particulars by way of interactive QR codes at accredited health amenities nationwide.
According to him, the codes allow enrollees to examine the consultations, diagnostic providers and medicines lined by their insurance packages.
Mr Ohiri stated the NHIA additionally strengthened its complaints administration system to tackle grievances involving enrollees, healthcare amenities and health upkeep organisations (HMOs).
Mr Ohiri stated the NHIA acquired and tracked 2,209 complaints by way of social media, phone calls, walk-in desks, name centres and letters.
He stated 82 per cent of the complaints had been resolved inside 48 hours, including that the authority secured direct refunds for enrollees who had been improperly charged by healthcare amenities.
The NHIA additionally issued formal warnings to amenities and delisted suppliers for persistent non-compliance, he stated.
“That is how regulation converts coverage into genuine financial protection,” Mr Ohiri stated.
Targeting susceptible populations
The NHIA boss stated the authority was increasing insurance entry for susceptible Nigerians by way of focused programmes supported by public subsidies, grants and public-private partnerships.
He stated beneath the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) Gateway, enrolment elevated from 2.6 million individuals within the second quarter of 2026 to 3.2 million within the third quarter, representing a 20.5 per cent enhance.
He added that every one the enrollees beneath the gateway had been biometrically verified utilizing their National Identification Numbers (NINs).
Mr Ohiri additionally highlighted a programme established in partnership with the Global Fund to present health insurance protection for key inhabitants teams dwelling with or affected by main infectious ailments in Gombe, Anambra, Ebonyi and Kwara states.
He stated enrolment beneath the programme elevated from 25,815 beneficiaries within the fourth quarter of 2025 to 58,447 within the third quarter of 2026.
He stated ladies accounted for 68 per cent of the enrollees, whereas all beneficiaries had been biometrically verified utilizing their NINs.
Future of Health is Now
The convention, themed “From Innovation to Impact: The Future of Health is Now”, introduced collectively stakeholders to talk about how improvements, investments, analysis and insurance policies can translate into measurable enhancements in healthcare supply.
Mr Ohiri stated health improvements should remedy sensible issues, generate proof, stay financially sustainable and turn out to be built-in into present programs to obtain affect at scale.
He stated the NHIA’s reforms had been meant to construct a health financing system that protects Nigerians from monetary hardship whereas bettering entry to healthcare.
“The future of health is not a distant vision,” he stated.
“Through strategic purchasing, rigorous evidence, and commitment to equity, the future of health is happening right now.”
READ ALSO: Experts name for wider adoption of confirmed health improvements in Nigeria
In her remarks, the Managing Director of Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu, stated Nigeria should look past the event of health improvements to the financing, insurance policies, procurement processes and knowledge programs wanted to maintain them and develop their attain.
Mrs Ihekweazu stated the eleventh version of the convention offered a possibility to mirror on classes from greater than a decade of discussions on common health protection, healthcare financing, know-how and the position of the non-public sector in strengthening Nigeria’s health system.
She stated improvements would solely ship significant health outcomes if policymakers prioritised scale and sustainability from the outset.
Citing a overview of digital improvements in maternal and new child health in Nigeria, she stated not one of the 10 interventions examined had achieved sustained scale, largely as a result of they lacked clear possession inside the health system and a pathway into routine service supply.
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