The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has introduced a new system designed to help Nigeria make better decisions about healthcare spending and ensure that limited resources are directed towards treatments and interventions that provide value to patients.
The NHIA announced the adoption of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) on Wednesday during the inauguration of its HTA Steering Committee and the official launch of the initiative. The agency said the framework would support evidence-based decisions on healthcare technologies, medicines and other interventions.
The Director-General of the NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, said the initiative is intended to strengthen the way healthcare resources are assessed and allocated. HTA involves examining evidence on the effectiveness, safety and economic value of healthcare interventions before decisions are made on their use or funding.
The move comes as Nigeria continues to face pressure to improve healthcare outcomes while working with limited financial resources. Government agencies and healthcare providers must often make decisions about which medicines, technologies and treatments should receive funding and wider access.
With the new framework, the NHIA aims to make those decisions more systematic and evidence-based rather than relying solely on cost or other individual considerations.
The authority also inaugurated a steering committee that will oversee the institutionalisation of HTA within Nigeria’s health insurance system.
Health Technology Assessment is increasingly used internationally to help governments determine whether new medicines, medical devices, procedures and healthcare technologies provide sufficient benefits relative to their costs.
For Nigerians enrolled in the health insurance system, the long-term objective is to improve the value obtained from healthcare spending and support decisions that can expand access to effective healthcare services.
The NHIA’s adoption of HTA therefore marks another step in efforts to strengthen evidence-based healthcare financing and improve how resources are allocated across Nigeria’s health system.
