By Haruna Gimba
The African Union Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has appointed President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria as the African Union (AU) Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership.
A statement by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale said the appointment was in recognition of President’s commitment to train 120,000 frontline health workers nationwide within 16 months, double the number of primary health facilities in communities across all 774 Local Government Areas of the country from 8,800 to over 17,000 over the next three years.
Others are; doubling of health personnel enrolment capacity from accredited nursing and midwifery institutions to accommodate the new demand created by new facilities across Nigeria, and his resolve to establish a paid volunteer youth force of social accountability officers to monitor the operational functioning and financial integrity of primary health centres.
The AU identified the Nigerian leader as the right champion for this noble and actionable continental effort.
The Africa CDC in a letter to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said President Tinubu was appointed on the recommendation of the Committee of Heads of State and Government of Africa CDC, under the leadership of President Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union.
In his new role, the Commission subsequently invited President Tinubu to address the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme (MELP) under the theme, ‘Impactful leadership in health: a whole government approach,’ billed for Saturday, February 17, 2024, at the Africa CDC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the margins of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Government.
It was reported that the Tinubu administration is attracting global investments in Nigeria’s health sector for the provision of cutting-edge infrastructure, equipment, and world-class manpower for improved access to quality healthcare for all Nigerians.
