The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is to establish a National Catastrophic Fund to address terminal ailments such as cancer, advanced heart disease, among others.
The Executive Secretary of the scheme, Prof. Mohammed Sambo, made the disclosure at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum, in Abuja today.
He said that the current contributions to the health insurance pool was insufficient to cater for some packages and programmes of the scheme.
He emphasised that if NHIS had enough funds, it would cover the treatment and management of cancer and other terminal diseases fully, but added: “We will not leave our people to be afflicted. We are creating another initiative the Catastrophic Fund, within the NHIS”.
Sambo also said that the programme would allow more people to benefit from health insurance, adding that the scheme had other initiatives for Nigerians.
He announced that plans to extend health insurance cover to the elderly and retirees had also reached advanced stage, noting that the move was to reduce out-of-pocket health expenditures on the people.
He noted that the reforms and initiatives embarked upon by the scheme was steering it toward the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), where Nigerians would access quality healthcare without financial hardship.
The NHIS chief reiterated the determination of the organisation to generate more funds to health insurance coffers for the coverage of all Nigerians.
