Niger Agency Launches Free Health Insurance For Nursing Mothers

As the enrolment to the Niger State Contributory Health Agency (NiCare) hits 121, 549 persons, the agency has launched a special enrolment for nursing mothers and their babies to get free health insurance coverage.

The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of NiCare, Sulayman Abu-Bakr, who disclosed this in Minna yesterday, noted that the launching of the enrolment was part of the activities to mark the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week.

He said the unveiling was ahead of the official launch of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) for Vulnerable Persons Enrolment, adding that out of the 121,549 so far enrolled, 80,230 of them were vulnerable people.

According to him, the vulnerable persons were covered through the government-funded programme even as 37,350 students and staff were covered under the tertiary institutions health insurance scheme.

Abu-Bakr said the enrollment of vulnerable people in the new drive would last 93 days and cover 274 wards of the 25 local government areas of the state, with emphasis on informal workers, nursing mothers, small-scale farmers and persons with disabilities.

While saying that the agency deliberately aligned the exercise with the World Breastfeeding Week, observed from yesterday up to August 7, he reiterated that the scheme was to strengthen maternal and child healthcare through access to health insurance.

Abu-Bakr, however urged nursing mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, describing it as one of the most effective ways of protecting children against infections, promoting healthy growth and supporting brain development.

He also disclosed that the Wife of the Governor, Hajiya Fatima Bago, would serve as NiCare’s State Health Insurance Ambassador and formally launch the enrollment drive while mobilising support for maternal and child health across the state.