FACT CHECK: Did the federal govt declare DNA tests free in general hospitals?

CLAIM

Multiple social media users posted the claim that the federal government would begin free deoxyribonucleic acid tests (DNA tests) in Nigerian general hospitals.

CONCLUSION

False. It’s fake news.

FULL TEXT

One of the users on facebook specifically stated that the free tests would be available from June 2022, a claim attributed to the Minister of Health.

The post reads: ‘BREAKING: Govt Hospitals in Nigeria Will Be Offering FREE DNA TEST from the Month of June, 2022. – Health Minister.’

Another user on twitter, Chijioke, Ph.D., also posted the same claim. His post got 1,075 shares and 2,709 likes.

The posts were widely circulated and celebrated as there were multiple cases of alleged paternity fraud already circulating on social media.

Paternity fraud in Nigeria is reportedly the second highest in the world with three out of 10 children said to have non-biological fathers.

Read also: FACT CHECK: Is the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) recruiting?

A popular radio presenter, Chinedu Emmanuel, popularly called Nedu of Wazobia FM got served the bitter pill of heartbreak when he learnt that his first son with his estranged wife, Uzoamaka Ohiri, was not his.

This case, alongside other series of social media exposes of paternity frauds and infidelity has prompted more men to move to confirm the paternity of their children through DNA tests.

Verification

Ripples Nigeria could not find the report on any credible platform, nor a press statement from the ministry of health to that effect.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Olorunmimbe Mamora, had debunked the news, saying neither he nor the minister of health made such a claim.

He said, “This is a false claim. At no point did I or the minister say this. The claims about free DNA tests are not true.”

By Oluwatobi Odeyinka…

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