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The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has expanded its life-saving maternal healthcare intervention from four pilot facilities to 272 health facilities across the country, with more than 53,000 women benefiting from treatment for pregnancy-related complications.
The Director-General of NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, disclosed this at the 2026 Joint Annual Review (JAR) meeting in Abuja,while presenting the agency’s progress report on maternal health interventions, explaining that the expansion was part of efforts to reduce preventable maternal deaths and remove financial barriers to emergency obstetric care.
Ohiri said the programme, which initially reached about 19,270 beneficiaries when it was launched in 2025, had grown to approximately 53,000 beneficiaries as of October 2026.
He explained that the intervention was designed to ensure that women experiencing life-threatening pregnancy complications receive immediate medical attention, irrespective of their health insurance status or financial circumstances.
According to him, the programme addresses the three major delays responsible for maternal deaths: delays in deciding to seek medical attention, delays in reaching healthcare facilities and delays in receiving adequate treatment after arriving at hospitals.
The NHIA boss said the agency’s approach was to prioritise saving lives, facilitate access to additional healthcare services and subsequently enrol beneficiaries in health insurance schemes to guarantee continued access to care.
“At that point when a woman presents bleeding or about to die, that’s not the time to start finding out definitions of vulnerability. Your first thing is to keep them alive,” he said.
The programme covers five leading causes of maternal mortality, including obstructed labour and pre-eclampsia, among other serious pregnancy-related complications.
Beyond maternal healthcare, Ohiri disclosed that the NHIA had also expanded its neonatal intervention, increasing the number of beneficiaries from an initial 646 to approximately 11,000 newborns, although the programme is currently being implemented in 15 participating facilities.
He cited Kano as an example of progress, revealing that one participating facility had recorded a survival rate of almost 99 per cent, having attended to about 2,000 babies.
The agency is also implementing its fistula-free programme in 22 facilities, providing comprehensive treatment for women suffering from obstetric fistula, including surgery, transportation, feeding, referrals, follow-up care and health insurance enrolment.
Ohiri disclosed that nearly 6,000 women had benefited from interventions under the fistula programme.He noted that the interventions were producing benefits beyond the immediate treatment of patients, as participating hospitals were using funds received through the programme to improve their infrastructure and capacity.
He cited the installation of a solar-powered freezer to strengthen blood banking services at Wazinshe Dutse General Hospital, expansion of obstetric ward capacity at General Hospital Katsina and improved service coordination at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital.
According to him, these investments demonstrate how strategic healthcare purchasing can improve service delivery while strengthening the capacity of healthcare facilities.
The NHIA director-general also disclosed that the agency had introduced measures to improve the quality of care received by insured Nigerians, including revised healthcare tariffs, digital access to benefit packages through QR codes and a complaints and feedback mechanism.
He said hospitals had been directed to commence emergency treatment without unnecessary delays, adding that where treatment was delayed beyond one hour, facilities were authorised to proceed with care under the NHIA’s emergency intervention arrangement.
Looking ahead to 2027, Ohiri said the agency would expand its maternal and neonatal healthcare interventions, increase the number of participating facilities and strengthen access to quality healthcare across the country.
He stressed that expanding health insurance coverage must go hand in hand with ensuring that Nigerians actually receive timely and quality medical attention.
The NHIA’s maternal health intervention is part of the Federal Government’s broader Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, particularly its equity pillar, which seeks to improve access to essential healthcare services for vulnerable populations.
