The federal government has fixed N12,000 as the cost for dialysis under the kidney dialysis subsidy scheme, away from the previous N50,000.

The Deputy Director/Head, Information and Public Relations, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Alaba Balogun, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to Mr Balogun, the significant move which will ease the cost of the treatment for patients is to save lives and reduce both physical and financial suffering, especially amongst vulnerable Nigerians.

He said, “This intervention is a deliberate initiative of the present administration to bring relief to patients with kidney-related diseases and expand access to universal health coverage.’’

He noted that implementation of the pilot scheme was already ongoing in 11 federal tertiary health institutions across the geopolitical zones of the country and would be expanded in due time.

The hospitals are Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, University of Jos Teaching Hospital, National Hospital, Abuja, and Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, Lagos.

Others are University College Hospital, Ibadan; University of Benin Teaching Hospital; Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa; Federal Teaching Hospital, Owerri; and Federal Medical Centre, Abakaliki.

Mr Balogun also noted that the federal government had not excluded the northwestern states in the dialysis subsidy and was committed to ensuring that no Nigerian was left behind in accessing healthcare services across the country under its renewed hope agenda.

He added that more federal hospitals would be added to the safety net to widen access for the subsidised dialysis sessions.

The federal government in 2024 initiated a programme to significantly reduce the cost of kidney dialysis by 80 per cent in selected federal tertiary health institutions. (NAN)