Health
AXA OneHealth Medical Centre to Deepen Health Insurance
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In order to improve health insurance in Nigeria, a leading underwriting firm in the country, AXA Mansard Health, has launched OneHealth Medical Centre.
A statement from the company disclosed that the facility would support its aspiration of delivering quality and affordable healthcare to Nigerians.
The firm stated that OneHealth Medical Centre was established to reduce the health-related financial burden, especially for low- and middle-class individuals, as the facility will help to incentivise healthcare providers to offer high-quality care, as they will be reimbursed for their services.
AXA Mansard further disclosed that it funded OneHealth Medical Centre to further uphold its HMO commitments.
Speaking at the new facility, the chief executive of AXA Africa Health, Mr Khaled El Shaarany, said that the insurance company invested $26 million to build OneHealth, its first of four facilities, targeted to be completed before the end of the next two years, to become the largest healthcare network in the country.
Shaarany also described the newly inaugurated medical centre as a one-stop healthcare solution, with two operating theatres and several consultation rooms that provide most of your healthcare needs, such as great cardiologists, laboratories and a pharmacy.
Speaking on the affordability of the Insurance premiums, he said that with AXA as the paying Partner, the medical centre could provide insurance that covers the hospital’s expenses and keeps the cost completely affordable for their customers.
The AXA Country Manager and Medical Director, OneHealth, Misbah Oleolo, in his opening speech, expressed delight in the launch, however, he noted that real satisfaction comes when the services have been delivered successfully.
“We hope to get positive feedback from our customers that the service meets their needs, until then, it is better to be economical with our emotions,” he said.
Speaking on their Awareness plan, Oleolo said that the AXA Health team led by AXA Mansard will first increase expansion in areas with very high Insurance penetration and eventually organically recruit more people, from across the nation.
“We guarantee high-quality healthcare solutions that will be accessible to a lot of people as we begin to increase our geographical footprints,” he said.
Oleolo said that the AXA OneHealth medical facility has carefully recruited and trained staff to deliver a technology-driven solution through their in-house electronic medical records backed with telemedicine as part of its digital health offering.
According to him, the initiative promotes collaboration as it engages medical personnel who would supervise the activities, in a way that would create a win-win situation for every party involved.
Oleolo also noted that the AXA health centre has put in place measures to combat Insurance fraud with an Insurance officer who would check the eligibility, identity and entitlement of a policy before claims fulfilment, as well as officers who would work from the AXA Mansard side to assist with provider liaison with the insurance arm and call centres to facilitate faster cyber security processes.
The Chief Executive Officer of AXA Mansard Health, Mr Tope Adeniyi, expressed his delight in stressing that the launch would tackle the issue of long waiting time, misdiagnosis, mal-diagnosis etc.
“We are very happy to see AXA powering OneHealth to deliver great services to our customers,” Mr Adeniyi said.
According to him, to ensure that Nigeria meets the universal health coverage target, he said that AXA Mansard Health is in a very strategic position, offering solutions on the demand and supply side of the coverage.
He stressed that medical innovation is the second link to achieving universal health care. “Because universal health coverage is to give equitable access to health care to all Nigerians, we, on the demand (Health Insurance) side, are pushing to get Hundreds of Millions of Nigerians covered while floating on the supply side to ensure there are wellness, clinic and medical centres to be able to care for the millions of Nigerians,” Adeniyi said.
The President of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Ms Ibironke Sodeinde, who brought a goodwill message from the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that the governor would revamp and rejuvenate the health sector to facilitate effective service delivery.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The new one-hour authorisation response time ultimatum policy introduced by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has received the full backing of SUNU Health Nigeria Limited.
This policy was introduced by the agency to ensure enrollees get prompt approval codes to access care.
Healthcare service providers have been urged to report any Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) that violates this initiative through an email, with the HMO in copy and a timestamp attached as evidence of the request. They may proceed to offer services to enrollees thereafter.
Speaking at the company’s second-quarter Providers’ Forum for the Lagos-Ogun region in Lagos recently, the chief executive of SUNU Health, Dr Moyosore Olomola, expressed optimism that this policy would improve healthcare delivery in the country, especially for enrollees, who crave quality service.
At the event themed Improving Quality and Access to Care Through Stronger Provider Network, and held at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in Yaba, Lagos, Mr Olomola reaffirmed the HMO’s commitment to operating within legal and operational frameworks to guarantee adequate care for enrollees.
“Access to care and quality of care remain key priorities in our healthcare systems. We know quite well that deliberate collaboration, strategic partnerships, and a shared commitment to excellence are required to achieve these priorities.
“A strong provider network is doubtless the backbone of any effective healthcare system. It ensures that our mutual enrollees receive the right care, at the right time, in the right place, and at the right price,” Mr Olomola, represented at the programme by the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dr Faith Nwachi, stated.
He further assured that SUNU Health would strictly adhere to the one-hour authorisation limit, stressing that this aligns seamlessly with one of the organisation’s core values—promptness and its corporate slogan, Humanity is the centre of our initiatives.
In a bid to further improve access and quality of care, SUNU Health also demonstrated its new operational software and Mobile app, aptly named SUNU Legacy.
Also speaking at the event, the NHIA Lagos State Coordinator (Ikeja), Dr Bethuel-Kasimu Abraham, noted that the forum’s expected outcome is to significantly reduce delays in accessing medical care.
Other key expectations include ensuring continuity of care, improving patient outcomes, and strengthening accountability among HMOs.
Addressing specific pain points faced by enrollees, the NHIA Ogun State Coordinator, Mr Dare Adefeso, acknowledged that the agency had received complaints regarding out-of-stock drugs and the discrimination of enrollees by certain providers.
He affirmed that the NHIA is actively addressing these issues, stressing that moving forward, every facility must ensure enrollees are properly catered to regardless of their status, provided they have an active health insurance plan.
Corroborating the long-standing legacy of SUNU Health, the Ogun State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mrs Aishat Tiamiyu, shared that her agency is responsible for public information dissemination and has been enrolled with SUNU Health for over 25 years.
Commending the HMO’s stellar service over two decades, she called for the immediate enrollment of new NOA staff into the scheme.
The Providers’ Forum remains one of the strategic channels employed by SUNU Health to consistently engage healthcare providers, understand their operational challenges, introduce new software updates, and solidify partnerships aimed at fostering premium healthcare delivery across Nigeria.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has announced the recall of a sexual enhancement product known as WAP Sensual Enhancement Capsules.
In a statement on Monday, the Nigerian agency disclosed that the recall is due to “undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients” in the product, whose country of origin is unknown, but is marketed and distributed online in the US through eBay.
It was emphasised that the recall is being “voluntarily” made by the manufacturer, Best Supplements Best Prices Company.
The detection of the undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients was made by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Laboratory analysis by the US FDA revealed that the product contained undeclared sildenafil, tadalafil, and flibanserin, which were not mentioned on the product label. Such substances may include phosphodiesterase type-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors or related compounds commonly used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, the statement by NAFDAC stated.
Sildenafil and tadalafil are ingredients in FDA-approved prescription drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction.
It was noted that these undeclared ingredients may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs, such as nitroglycerin, and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Consumers with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take nitrates.
Flibanserin is the active ingredient in an FDA-approved prescription drug used to treat low sexual desire in women. Flibanserin can cause drowsiness, sedation, dangerously low blood pressure, and fainting, especially when combined with alcohol.
Consumers have been encouraged to report compromised products (medicines or medical devices) to the nearest NAFDAC office, call 0800-162-3322, or send an email to sf******@********ov.ng.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Dr Obi Adigwe has been appointed as the pioneer National Coordinator of the National Health Technology and Data Analytics Office (NHTDAO).
The body was created by the Ministry of Health under the approval of President Bola Tinubu.
NHTDAO will be domiciled in the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, a statement on Friday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, stated.
The agency will serve as a meta-level national platform for coordinating the country’s digital-health agenda. It will reinforce, not replace, the existing statutory functions of relevant departments and agencies, it was emphasised.
The organisation will also harmonise and empower the public and private institutions across the health system, set the standards that connect them, and operationalise the National Digital Health Architecture, approved by the National Council on Health in November 2025.
It was stated that President Tinubu expects NHTDAO to accelerate Nigeria’s transition to a secure, interoperable and data-driven health system that improves outcomes for all citizens.
Mr Adigwe, as Director General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, has leveraged science to catalyse interventions in artificial intelligence, translational research, and technology transfer.
He coordinated major projects, including the ¥300m Nanotechnology grant and the AFREXIMBank grant for Africa’s first API Training Facility. He led the roadmap development that underpinned an €18 million EU grant, the largest in Africa for the thematic area. During the last pandemic, Adigwe globally showcased African science by undertaking the world’s first analysis to debunk claims about the Covid Organics preparation.
The Office’s Steering Committee, which provides strategic direction and oversight, comprises:
- Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare (Co-chair)
- Mr Olaniyi Yusuf, Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (Co-chair)
- Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare (Alternate Co-chair)
- Ms Kachollom Daju, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
- Mr Idris Alubankudi Saliu, Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy
- Dr Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, National Coordinator, SWAp Coordination Office
- Dr Abdu Mukhtar, National Coordinator, Presidential Initiative to Unlock Healthcare Value Chain
- Dr Muyi Aina, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency
- Dr Kelechi Ohiri, Director General, National Health Insurance Authority
- Director, Health Planning, Research and Statistics, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
- National Information Technology Development Agency Representative
- Six representatives of the State Commissioners of Health, one from each of the six geopolitical zones
- Pharm Hamza Buhari, Stakeholder representing Industry and Community.
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