By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the decision of the President Bola Tinubu administration to expand access to subsidized kidney dialysis to more hospitals nationwide as commendable step towards ensuring a more affordable and high-quality healthcare for Nigerians with kidney-related ailments.
This, according to the group, is in the aftermath of the introduction of the dialysis subsidy policy in January this year before it was expanded, in March, to 10 federal government-owned hospitals spread across the country.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG noted that the policy kicked off the same January at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, ATBUTH Bauchi, where the dialysis fee was slashed from N50,000 to N12,000 per session in line with the President’s directive.
The statement said: “The decision by the President Bola Tinubu administration to slash kidney dialysis fee by as much as 80% to N12,000 was taken about seven months ago and took effect almost immediately at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital ABTUTH, Bauchi State.
“And within the first few days, the ABTUTH authorities announced, back then, that over 45 beneficiaries had accessed the subsidized services in what was a major relief to Nigerians with chronic kidney diseases in the state who now have access to better and more affordable dialysis. This was two months before the same service was extended to 10 other federal government-owned hospitals.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the policy was launched in Bauchi in January and is gradually taking firm root since March after it was extended to Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute-Metta, Lagos; Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, Abuja; University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan; Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri; University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Maiduguri.
”’Others are Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta; Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos; Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Azare; University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin; and University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar.
“We are however surprised that some Nigerians have, in recent days, been attempting to down-play this laudable initiative after the Presidency reaffirmed the policy with an announcement of an intention to expand the services to more tertiary health institutions nationwide before the end of the year.
“Equally deplorable is that one national newspaper (name witheld) even claimed that the 80% dialysis subsidy had yet to be implemented but only cited 3 hospitals where the reduced fees had not been effected while ignoring health institutions which had made public the price cut.
“We however make bold to say that the initiative is gathering momentum, one hospital after the other, and we invite Nigerians to note that this was the same way sceptics claimed that the administration’s now-popular Students Loan Scheme was non-existent within the first few weeks of its introduction but today the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has proved to be one of the major sound legacies of the empathetic Bola Tinubu administration.
“We are convinced that the dialysis subsidy will also prove to be a rousing success story in the nation’s tertiary health institutions on the watch of the Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Professor Mohammed Ali Pate who is painstakingly delivering on the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the health sector.”
The group, however, urged the health authorities to ensure that no red tape, sabotage, or bureaucratic bottlenecks are allowed to frustrate or slow down the implementation of the humane dialysis subsidy in the tertiary health institutions.
