A professor of medicine at the University of Lagos has called on the Nigerian government to make health insurance mandatory, warning that rising cases of hypertension, diabetes, kidney failure and other non‑communicable diseases are deepening the nation’s health‑care burden and pushing households into financial distress.
Speaking to The PUNCH on the sidelines of the 15th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Association of Clinical Endocrinologists of Nigeria (ACEN) in Ibadan, Prof. Olufemi Fasanmade said voluntary health‑insurance enrollment has failed in Nigeria. He argued that only a compulsory scheme, financed through expanded taxation, can guarantee universal access to essential health services.
“The same way VAT is collected, money should be channelled into health care so that every Nigerian can be treated,” Fasanmade said. He stressed that health care is a fundamental right that should not depend on income or employment status. “It is a tragedy when people die because they cannot afford treatment,” he added, noting that many countries provide emergency care regardless of patients’ ability to pay.
Fasanmade pointed to weak tax compliance as a key obstacle to health‑care financing, noting that Nigeria’s health‑insurance coverage is estimated at under 10 percent. He warned that chronic conditions such as kidney failure can cost between N50,000 and N100,000 per week, amounts most families cannot sustain. “Insurance is not optional; it is survival,” he said.
ACEN president Prof. Williams Balogun corroborated the concerns, reporting a 30.4 percent health‑sector inflation rate in January 2026, driven mainly by the cost of imported drugs and equipment. “Even with a minimum wage of N70,000, many patients cannot sustain treatment for chronic conditions that require lifelong care,” Balogun warned. He also highlighted the brain drain of newly trained specialists, which further strains the health system.
Opening the conference, Oyo State Commissioner for Health Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi described Nigeria’s transition to a disease profile dominated by non‑communicable illnesses. She disclosed that millions of Nigerians live with diabetes—many undiagnosed—and that hypertension affects roughly one in four adults in the state. “The crisis we are facing is silent: patients who know they need treatment but cannot afford it, and systems that struggle to deliver care consistently,” Ajetunmobi said.
The state government has responded by strengthening primary‑health‑care services, expanding screening programmes, improving drug supply chains and integrating non‑communicable disease care into existing health programmes. Efforts are also underway to boost local pharmaceutical production to reduce reliance on imports.
Dr. Jokotade Adeleye, chair of the conference organising committee, said the meeting’s objective was to develop practical solutions for improving access to essential endocrine medicines. She noted a widening gap between clinical need and treatment availability, calling for coordinated policy, financing and clinical interventions.
The conference, themed “The Crisis of Access: Ensuring Affordable and Available Essential Endocrine Medicines,” underscores growing calls for compulsory health insurance and stronger fiscal support to safeguard Nigeria’s health‑care system against the escalating burden of chronic disease.
