Five months after President Bola Tinubu approved 80 percent subsidy on kidney dialysis for Nigerians, reducing the cost from N50,000 to N12,000, the subsidy regime is yet to take effect in hospitals across the country.
Sources told The Guardian that the federal government has not made funds available to the hospitals for the implementation of the subsidy.
The subsidy, to be implemented across 11 federal hospitals, is aimed at easing the financial burden on patients with kidney disease. Participating institutions include the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute-Metta Lagos, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jabi, Abuja, the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) Maiduguri.
Others are the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Abeokuta, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Lagos, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Azare, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Benin, and University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) Calabar.
However, inquiries by The Guardian revealed patients undergoing dialysis still pay between N35,000.00 and N100,000.00 per session in some of the participating hospitals. At the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), N73,000.00 is charged as an initial fee for dialysis while subsequent fees per dialysis are N43,500.
The Guardian checks showed that the price change has not been effected at the Federal Medical Centre Jabi as a session costs N35,000.00 but does not include central line, also known as a central venous catheter (CVC) or central venous line (CVL).
At FMC Abeokuta, The Guardian learnt that dialysis at the facility is N100,000.00 for the first session, while subsequent ones are between N60,000 to N70,000 per session.
A source at FMC Ebute-Metta told The Guardian that a circular announcing the dialysis subsidy was initially shared at the hospital, prompting its implementation, but the facility later reverted to the old rate due to inadequate funds.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Funmi Adetuyibi, told The Guardian that as at the last revolving committee meeting, the price agreed upon for dialysis was N17,000.00, adding that the amount will still be reviewed.She stated that the federal government supplied three dialysis machines and consumables to the hospital.
Adetuyibi explained that out of the three, only one has been installed and is currently functional, adding that the Head of the Nephrology Department has called the consultant that supplied the machines to come and install the remaining two machines.
Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Olusegun, had in a post on Monday via his X handle, Daddy DO @DO Olusegun, said that Federal Medical Centres all around the six geo-political zones, dialysis costs N12,000 per session under this administration. “Please verify,” he added.
This elicited criticisms from X users who faulted his post, insisting that hospitals are not charging the N12,000 yet.
TG OMORI @boy_director, while countering the post, wrote: “A Dialysis is about 100k plus per session, sometimes you need 3 sessions in a week, minimum wage is 70k. Knowing these facts brought me tears in the hospital cause no hope for the common man.”
Another X user, in his handle The_Bearded_Dr_Sina, posted a WhatsApp chat with an unidentified person and it reads:
“Please I want to confirm, is it true they do Dialysis for 12k in UCH? No, Owena is currently not functioning due to water issues. But the current price is farrrrrrr from 12k. What is the estimated price for Dialysis in UCH per session?
First session is 80+ includes materials, includes cannulation, depends on the machine being used. Subsequently, 42,000 – 48,000. Nigerians stay with me.”
