The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with three universities in the country and Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Centre (SPARC), Nairobi, Kenya to build the capacity of personnel for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria.

The universities are the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and the Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos.

The MOU was signed during a meeting organized by NHIA in collaboration with Results for Development (R4D), to review proposed course modules to be delivered under the NHIA 's leadership development programme (NLDP) by the training institutions.

Speaking during the signing ceremony yesterday in Abuja, Hope Uweja, Country Director of R4D, said the MOU was done with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He said R4D is the implementing partner to ensure that NHIA becomes a strong agency that is well positioned to drive the achievement of UHC.

The Chief Executive Officer, NHIA, Prof Mohammed Sambo, said the limited capacity to drive health insurance in Nigeria inspired the MOU.

He said the MOU was for two years, adding that lessons learnt would be infused into the health insurance institutes planned by the agency.

Prof. Nneka Okekearu, Director of Health Program, Enterprise Development Centre, Pan Atlantic University, said to ensure a vibrant health sector, UHC must work and the MOU was the first step in that direction.