Health sector stakeholders have renewed calls for a sweeping reform of Nigeria’s health insurance scheme, warning that the country’s cash-and-carry hospital system is driving preventable deaths. They said urgent action is needed to stop patients from being denied care simply because they cannot pay upfront.
The call was made in Port Harcourt during a one-day free medical outreach organised ahead of Christmas by the Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, in partnership with Meridian Hospitals Group and Pilgrims Health Foundation (Africa). The event brought hundreds of residents face to face with doctors, nurses, and volunteers.
Speakers at the outreach condemned situations where critically ill patients are turned away for failing to make deposits. They described the practice as inhumane and evidence that Nigeria’s health insurance framework is failing, despite working in countries with fewer resources.
China said his years as a laboratory scientist exposed him to the harsh realities of hospital care in Nigeria. He recalled witnessing patients die because they could not afford immediate treatment, an experience that pushed him away from salaried employment and toward humanitarian work. He said access to care should never depend on the cash in a patient’s pocket.
The outreach, held at Oromenike Government Girls Secondary School in D-Line, Port Harcourt, targeted over 400 beneficiaries. Services included general consultations, blood pressure and blood sugar checks, malaria testing and treatment, free drugs, eye examinations, eyeglasses, and bookings for eye surgeries. Preventive health talks on hygiene, nutrition, and maternal care were also delivered.
Beneficiaries arrived as early as 7 a.m., with many praising the intervention. Sixty-three-year-old Jerry Onwuso said he received eye care, glasses, and medication at no cost, calling for the programme to be sustained. Another participant, Loveth Sam, urged organisers to expand future outreaches.
Meridian Hospitals founder and Chief Medical Director, Dr Iyke Odo, called on federal and state governments to make health insurance functional and accessible. He said hospitals are struggling under rising costs, citing electricity bills that jumped from about N500,000 to over N12 million monthly. According to him, hospitals are being charged like oil companies, making affordable care difficult.
Stakeholders warned that without urgent reform, Nigeria’s health system will continue to fail its most vulnerable citizens.
