The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has announced the expansion of its national health insurance scheme to include coverage for People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and tuberculosis (TB) patients, with pilot programmes currently underway in four states.
This major development was revealed by Mrs. Aisha Abubakar Haruna, Acting Director of the NHIA Lagos regional office, who represented Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, Director General of NHIA, at the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) held in Lagos.
In a significant milestone, Ohiri disclosed that the NHIA has already achieved 99% of the 2027 presidential target for national health insurance enrollment — two years ahead of schedule.
The scheme now covers over 20 million Nigerians, up from 16.8 million in 2023.
“We’ve reached 99% of the federal government’s health insurance enrollment target, and we’re accelerating access to cover extreme health cases like HIV and TB through pilot expansions,” Ohiri stated.
Additionally, 800,000 more Nigerians were enrolled through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, raising the total to 2.6 million beneficiaries as of May 2025.
To address challenges such as drug shortages and treatment delays, NHIA is implementing a multi-project strategy aimed at improving service delivery and ensuring timely care for all enrollees.
