Nigeria
NG
Healthcare System
Nigeria's healthcare system is highly fragmented across federal, state, and local government levels. The NHIA (National Health Insurance Authority, formerly NHIS — reformed under the National Health Insurance Authority Act 2022) provides social health insurance for formal sector employees but covers less than 5% of the population. Out-of-pocket payments account for approximately 70–75% of total health expenditure. The private sector dominates for middle- and upper-class patients in urban areas. The public sector operates primary health care centres (PHCs), secondary (state general hospitals), and tertiary institutions (federal teaching hospitals and federal medical centres).
- System Type
- Fragmented multi-tier public/private; NHIA mandatory social insurance with very low coverage
- Regulatory Body
- NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) — drug, food, medical device registration and regulation. MDCN (Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria) — physician and dentist licensing. Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) — pharmacist licensing. NHIA (National Health Insurance Authority) — health insurance regulator under 2022 Act. FMOHSW (Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare) — health policy and national programs.
- Data Protection
- Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA 2023) — replaced and strengthened NDPR 2019; supervised by Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). NDPA aligns broadly with GDPR principles but with lower penalty caps.
- Currency
- NGN
- Emergency Number
- 112 (national emergency), 767 (NEMA), 08000-222-000 (NHIA helpline)
- Languages
- en
Coding Systems
diagnosis
ICD-10 (WHO edition)
ICD-10 WHO standard edition used for NHIA claims, hospital reporting, and FMOHSW statistics. Nigeria has no national modification of ICD-10. NHIA mandates ICD-10 coding for all accredited facility claims. Clinical coders are relatively few; coding quality varies. Tropical disease codes extensively used: malaria (B50-B54), sickle cell disease (D57), schistosomiasis (B65), typhoid (A01), lassa fever (A96.2), Ebola historically (A98.4).
dental
FDI (ISO 3950)
FDI two-digit notation used in all clinical and academic settings in Nigeria. Nigeria has no separate dental coding system. Dental services outside PHC scope are predominantly private sector. NHIA dental benefit is very limited (basic extractions only).
procedures
NHIA procedure catalogue (descriptive)
No standardized national procedure code set equivalent to CPT or OPCS-4. NHIA uses a descriptive procedure list for claims. Private hospitals using accreditation bodies (COHSASA, ISO) may document with CPT codes informally for internal costing. Federal teaching hospitals use descriptive surgical lists. HMO authorizations reference NHIA benefit schedule by description.
drugs
NAFDAC registration number
NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) registers all pharmaceutical products marketed in Nigeria and assigns a NAFDAC registration number (format: XX-XXXX). All legally marketed drugs must display NAFDAC number. Generic substitution common. Drug prices largely unregulated. Many WHO essential medicines on NHIA drug formulary. Brand names in Nigerian market often differ from UK/US brands for same active ingredients (local manufacturing + parallel imports from India, China).
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