12 Hospitals Cannot Meet Nigeria’s Dialysis Needs — Osiris Health

ValidViewNetwork reports that Osiris Health has raised concerns about Nigeria’s capacity to provide affordable dialysis, saying the 12 federal hospitals offering subsidised dialysis services are inadequate for a population of more than 200 million people.

The warning, comes against the background of the growing burden of kidney disease and the high financial cost of repeated dialysis treatment.

Osiris Health is a healthcare operations company developing a dialysis network through partnerships with existing hospitals and clinics.

The company says Nigeria needs a much larger and more accessible network of dialysis facilities if patients with advanced kidney disease are to receive treatment without facing long journeys, limited appointment slots or heavy financial pressure.

WHY THE NUMBER OF CENTRES MATTERS

Dialysis is not normally a one-off treatment. For many patients with end-stage kidney disease, haemodialysis must be performed repeatedly, often several times a week.

This means that a patient’s access to treatment depends not only on whether a dialysis machine exists somewhere in Nigeria, but also on whether the patient can reach the centre, secure a treatment slot and afford the associated costs.

For families outside major cities, the challenge can become even greater. A patient may have to travel repeatedly from another town or state to a hospital offering the service.

That can mean additional expenditure on transport, accommodation, food and other hospital-related costs.

ValidViewNetwork gathered that this is one reason the debate over dialysis capacity goes beyond the simple number of machines.

It involves the entire chain of renal care, including trained personnel, maintenance of dialysis equipment, electricity supply, water treatment, medicines, specialist doctors and sustainable financing.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S SUBSIDY

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The 12 hospitals referred to in the current report are linked to the Federal Government’s subsidised dialysis programme.

In 2025, the Federal Government announced a subsidy aimed at reducing the cost of dialysis in selected federal hospitals.

Reports at the time said the programme covered facilities including Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, National Hospital Abuja, University College Hospital Ibadan, Federal Medical Centre Ebute Metta and Federal Medical Centre Owerri, among others.

The subsidy was intended to make dialysis more affordable for Nigerians facing the high cost of renal treatment.

But affordability and availability remain separate questions. Even where the cost of a session is subsidised, patients still need a functioning centre with available machines and appointments.

NIGERIA’S WIDER RENAL-CARE CHALLENGE

The scale of Nigeria’s kidney-care challenge has been discussed for years.

A UK government country information report published in December 2025 cited estimates of about 149 dialysis centres and 600 dialysis machines across Nigeria, while noting that levels of functionality vary.

That figure is different from the 12 federal hospitals providing subsidised treatment referenced by Osiris Health.

The distinction is important. The current concern is not that Nigeria has only 12 dialysis centres in total.

Rather, the issue raised by Osiris Health is the limited number of federal hospitals participating in subsidised dialysis provision.

ValidViewNetwork can confirm that Nigeria has both public and private dialysis facilities, but access, affordability and geographic distribution remain major issues.

WHY EXPANSION MATTERS

For a country of more than 200 million people, renal-care capacity cannot be measured only by the existence of specialist facilities.

Patients need treatment close enough to their homes to make repeated sessions realistic. They also need a system capable of absorbing patients who cannot afford private-sector charges.

The challenge is therefore both medical and economic.

ValidViewNetwork gathered that Osiris Health is advocating expansion through partnerships with hospitals and clinics rather than relying exclusively on the construction of new stand-alone facilities.

The company has already been involved in dialysis-centre expansion, including partnerships designed to bring renal care closer to patients in different Nigerian cities.

For thousands of families dealing with kidney failure, the issue is ultimately straightforward: a dialysis machine has little value to a patient who cannot access it when treatment is due. ValidViewNetwork reports.