Kelechi Ohiri, director-general of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), says five additional healthcare facilities have been onboarded in Lagos State.

Mr Ohiri said in a statement on Saturday in Abuja that the facilities would help to implement the Financial Access to Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CEmOC) programme.

According to him, the newly onboarded facilities are the Lagos Island Maternal Hospital, General Hospital Gbagada, Surulere General Hospital, General Hospital Apapa, and General Hospital Ikorodu.

He said the five institutions’ onboarding followed agreements between the NHIA and the Lagos State Ministry of Health at a recent engagement in Lagos.

Mr Ohiri said the meeting involved key leaders from both institutions, including the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi.

“The NHIA’s Financing Access to CEmOC programme, launched in September 2024, is an innovative health financing mechanism aimed at reducing maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly among vulnerable populations.

“The programme is designed to address the delay in maternal health and the delay in receiving timely and adequate care.

“It will do so by ensuring that women with obstetric complications can access life-saving treatment at the point of need,” he said.

He said the onboarding process included comprehensive facility walkthroughs conducted by NHIA and CEmOC teams in the selected hospitals to assess their readiness to implement the programme.

“Participating departments included obstetrics and gynaecology, maternity ward, pharmacy, family planning clinic, medical records, social welfare, and finance and accounts, among others,” he said.

Mr Ohiri said the programme targets poor and vulnerable women at risk of life-threatening obstetric conditions such as pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, haemorrhage, prolonged obstructed labour, sepsis, post-abortion complications and other emergencies requiring caesarean sections.

“Beyond emergency obstetric care, the programme provides postpartum Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) services, including family planning, and supports health insurance enrolment to ensure continued access to maternal and child healthcare.

“With the addition of the five new facilities, a total of nine hospitals in Lagos are now implementing the CEmOC programme,” he said.

Meanwhile, Taiwo Hassan, chief medical director of the General Hospital Ikorodu, said the CEmOC programme would be instrumental in providing critical care to vulnerable women.

“This initiative is poised to drive meaningful, measurable improvements in maternal health outcomes in our facility and beyond,” he said.

Abraham Bethuel-Kassimu, NHIA state coordinator, Ikeja State Office, said the programme was a critical component of the federal government’s mission to ensure no woman is prevented from accessing quality maternal healthcare.

Rita Chukwu, NHIA state coordinator, Yaba Office, also said the selected healthcare facilities were prepared and equipped to provide emergency maternal services.

Ms Chukwu said the programme would build long-term health system resilience and sustainability in maternal healthcare across the state.

(NAN)