NIGERIAN battling kidney disease have received a major lifeline as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a subsidy reducing the cost of dialysis in federal government-owned hospitals from ₦50,000 to just ₦12,000 per session.
The announcement was made on Monday by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, via a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
According to Dare, the policy is already being implemented in federal medical centres and teaching hospitals across the six geopolitical zones, with more facilities expected to join before the end of the year.
The hospitals where the intervention is currently running include:
Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute-Metta, Lagos
FMC Jabi, Abuja
University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan
FMC Owerri
University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Maiduguri
FMC Abeokuta
Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos
FMC Azare
University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin
University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar
Dare said the intervention would “expand nationwide access and reduce the crushing financial burden faced by thousands of Nigerians living with chronic kidney disease.”
Kidney dialysis, a critical life-saving procedure for patients with renal failure, often requires multiple sessions per week. At an average of ₦50,000 per session, many patients were unable to sustain treatment, leading to worsening health outcomes and avoidable deaths.
With the new subsidy, patients will now pay less than one-quarter of the previous cost, a move healthcare experts say could save thousands of lives annually.
The initiative comes less than a year after President Tinubu approved free caesarean sections (C-sections) in federal hospitals, a landmark policy aimed at reducing maternal mortality and easing the cost of childbirth for Nigerian families.
Health stakeholders say the latest intervention demonstrates the administration’s commitment to strengthening public healthcare delivery and improving access for vulnerable groups.
The presidency assured that additional federal medical centres and teaching hospitals will be incorporated into the programme before the end of 2025, ensuring that patients in rural and underserved areas can also benefit.
For many Nigerians living with kidney disease, the decision marks a rare ray of hope in an economy where soaring medical costs have pushed critical care out of reach for the average citizen.
“This is not just a policy; it’s a lifeline,” one patient in Abuja told News Point Nigeria, praising the move as a “timely intervention for struggling families.”