The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has reaffirmed its commitment to resolving drug shortages and delays in healthcare delivery through a multi-faceted strategy aimed at improving access, quality, and efficiency within Nigeria’s health insurance system.
This was disclosed byKelechi Ohiri, the director general of the NHIA, during the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) held in Lagos. Ohiri was represented at the event by Aisha Abubakar Haruna, deputy director of the NHIA Lagos Zone.
Speaking on the progress made under the authority’s evolving mandate—formerly operating as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)—Ohiri highlighted a series of targeted interventions implemented between 2024 and 2025. These include the revision of healthcare tariffs, resolution of complaints, enforcement actions against non-compliant healthcare providers and Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs), an overhaul of accreditation processes, and the imposition of a strict one-hour limit for care authorisation code issuance.
“These interventions are helping to mitigate previous issues of medicine shortages, care denials or delays in issuing codes, and provider payment delays,” the NHIA director general stated.
In addition to administrative reforms, the NHIA has expanded healthcare access to vulnerable groups, notably women suffering from obstetric fistula. Through the Fistula-Free Initiative and the Financing Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CEmOC) Services, more than 7,500 women had benefitted from medical interventions as of May 2025.
Specifically, 2,690 women received life-changing obstetric fistula repairs across 17 designated treatment centres, while another 5,289 women accessed emergency obstetric care at over 200 CEmOC facilities nationwide.
In the area of cancer treatment, Ohiri disclosed that the NHIA has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global pharmaceutical firm ROCHE to support a cost-sharing scheme for cancer treatment medications. Initially launched in five teaching hospitals, the initiative has since been scaled up, extending financial access to more NHIA enrollees through the NHIA/ROCHE cost-sharing model.
The NHIA has also made significant progress in its digital transformation journey. While the agency previously adopted a self-automation system, it is now fully automated in the accreditation of health facilities. According to Ohiri, the authority leverages the Safe Care tool—a digital platform comprising over 100 evaluative questions—to assess and accredit healthcare providers.
“We started an accreditation of over 192 facilities in Lagos. We are running accreditation, and we will soon be embarking on re-accreditation because we have upgraded the standard,” he said.
The NHIA DG further emphasised that only facilities that meet or surpass the upgraded benchmarks will retain their accreditation status, adding that any facility unable to meet the revised standards will be removed from the NHIA platform.
He maintained that all facilities accredited through this rigorous, online-based process are expected to meet international standards.
Applied Underwriters launches innovation risk to redefine risk measurement
Applied Underwriters has unveiled Innovation Risk, a newly established and independently operated managing general agent (MGA) platform dedicated to casualty, accident, and life underwriting operations.
The launch marks an expansion in the company’s commitment to pioneering risk solutions and leveraging cutting-edge technology in the insurance sector.
According to the company, Innovation Risk will harness advanced technologies and refined risk measurement techniques to elevate underwriting efficiency and accuracy. The platform is also positioned to attract top-tier underwriting and technology talent from across the globe.
Building on over 30 years of Applied Underwriters’ research, development, and deployment of proprietary and patented underwriting methods, Innovation Risk aims to replicate and expand the firm’s track record of delivering superior underwriting performance and sustained profitability in even the most complex insurance lines.
Initial rollouts for the platform are expected in both the United States and the European Union. The operations will be powered by predictive analytics systems developed and refined over several decades at Applied, in addition to recent research and development breakthroughs in biotechnology and telephony data over the last five years.
Steve Menzies, chairman of Applied Underwriters, emphasised that the new platform’s competitive edge lies in its ability to measure and assess risk more effectively than traditional models.
“Innovation Risk’s focus and competitive advantage lies in its ability to measure risk, and in this way, its value proposition rests squarely on traditional insurance practices,” Menzies said. “We fully expect Innovation Risk to quickly become the leader in proprietary insurance underwriting.”
Menzies also tied the launch to Applied Underwriters’ broader strategic vision, pointing to the success of United Risk, a global MGA platform previously launched by the company.
“The establishment of United Risk a few years ago—today one of the top MGA platforms in the world—and now the establishment of Innovation Risk, underscore the position our greater organisation enjoys as the fast-moving, go-to for corporate development and M&A in underwriting and distribution.Especially given the extraordinary mapping we offer for investors, insurance partners, and proven entrepreneurs seeking a pathway for realizing growth and value,”he said.
He concluded by highlighting the agility that private ownership confers on the organisation, enabling Applied Underwriters to approach complex business challenges with fresh perspectives.
“Private ownership affords us flexibility, and so we are often able to consider business problems differently and to our advantage,” he said. “We have the winning formula for powerful, autonomous decision-making across our organisation, bound together by an ethic of hard work and achievement.”
Menzies further added that Innovation Risk is tasked with enabling independent growth for each of its MGAs and MGUs, encouraging each business unit to evolve along its own strategic path. “Our continuing and unprecedented aggregation of talent over the years tells it all,” he remarked.
