Why Nigeria’s ₦12,000 kidney dialysis plan remains on paper, not in hospitals

Five months after President Bola Tinubu approved an 80 percent subsidy on kidney dialysis slashing the cost from ₦50,000 to ₦12,000, the policy is yet to be implemented in federal hospitals.

Investigations by Gong-news revealed that patients still pay between ₦35,000 and ₦100,000 per session in some of the hospitals earmarked for the subsidy.

The programme was meant to run across 11 facilities, including Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), and several Federal Medical Centres in Abuja, Lagos, Owerri, Abeokuta, and Azare.

But checks show no reduction has been applied. At LUTH, patients are billed ₦73,000 for the first dialysis session and ₦43,500 subsequently. At FMC Jabi, Abuja, a session costs ₦35,000 excluding the central line. At FMC Abeokuta, patients pay ₦100,000 for the first session and ₦60,000–₦70,000 afterwards.

Hospital sources say the federal government has yet to release funds to back the subsidy, leaving kidney patients to bear the full financial burden despite the presidential approval.