By Muhammad Amaan
President Bola Tinubu has approved a subsidy on kidney dialysis for Nigerians in 11 hospitals across the country, reducing the cost for Nigerians from N50,000 to N12,000.
The subsidy is being implemented across the six geo-political zones at some federal medical institutions.
Participating institutions include the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute-Metta, Lagos state, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jabi, Abuja, the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Oyo state, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, Imo state and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) Maiduguri, Borno state.
Others are the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Abeokuta, Ogun State, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Azare, Bauchi State, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Benin, Edo state and University of Calabar Teaching (UCTH) Calabar, Cross River state.
The subsidy was launched in January at the Abubakar Tarawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) in Bauchi state.
According to Ms Hammatu Haruna, the manager-in-charge of the renal centre at the teaching hospital, the subsidy has brought significant relief to patients.
Since the launch on January 8, 2025, 35 patients have benefited from the program.
Ms Haruna also acknowledged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for providing adequate resources, including one dialysis machine and over 900 dialyzers, to ensure the success of the initiative.
