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President Bola Tinubu has given Nigerians a reason to smile with his approval of a subsidy on kidney dialysis. This move reduces the cost of dialysis from N50,000 to N12,000 in 11 hospitals across the country.
The participating hospitals are strategically located across the six geopolitical zones, ensuring that Nigerians have access to affordable dialysis regardless of their location.
Some of the hospitals include:
Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute-Metta Lagos, Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jabi, Abuja, University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri
University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) Maiduguri.
The subsidy has already brought significant relief to patients.
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Others hospitals 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.
Subsequently, 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, “Our patients are very happy with this initiative. We have seen remarkable improvement in their condition.”
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.
She noted that before the subsidy, many patients struggled to afford dialysis.
“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.
Since the launch on January 8, 35 patients have benefited from the programme.
Haruna also acknowledged the federal ministry of health for providing adequate resources, including one dialysis machine and over 900 dialyzers, to ensure the success of the initiative.
“We appreciate the federal government of Nigeria; they have given us the necessary support. We have almost everything at hand,” she said.
This subsidy is a welcome development, especially considering the rising cases of kidney failure in Nigeria.
Also, in February, the Yobe State government deployed 50 health experts to investigate the spike in kidney failure cases in some parts of the state.
According to Mahmud Maina, director of the Biomedical Science Research and Training Centre at Yobe State University, the investigative team includes neurology consultants, nephrologists, laboratory scientists, geologists, chemists, and eco-toxicologists, with support from international experts in the UK, US, and Ghana.
He added 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.
