By Muhammad Amaan
Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to collaborate with potential Nigerian vaccine manufacturers to ensure equitable access to life-saving vaccines for children and adults.
He made the appeal at a meeting with a delegation of GAVI led by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Sania Nishtar, at the State House, Abuja.
According to him, the partnership on local vaccine production had become necessary owing to the challenges faced by developing countries, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious disease outbreaks.
He said, “We have capable and talented people who can make the necessary contributions to the production of vaccines in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.”
The President assured the GAVI delegation of Nigeria’s commitment to fulfilling its outstanding counterpart contributions for routine vaccines for the year 2023 and directed the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, to work with the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Wale Edun, to ensure the release of necessary funds for vaccine procurement.
He added, “We intend to contribute to the development of our healthcare programme, and we are committed to partnering with GAVI.”
Tinubu reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring that no child is left behind when it comes to vaccination against preventable childhood diseases.
“GAVI’s commitment to humanity is recognised throughout the world. Thank you for your impactful commitment to humanity, and we welcome the collaboration to save our children from preventable diseases.
“We as a nation are committed to your values, and we believe that no child should be left unprotected,” he maintained.
The President acknowledged the invaluable perspective shared by the GAVI CEO and emphasised the importance of leveraging her experience for the benefit of children’s health.
This was even as he commended Nishtar for her visit and support for the administration’s health-sector initiatives.
The President, while pledging to prioritise investments in health sector renewal, underscored the importance of coordination and collaboration among federal, state, and local governments.
In her remarks, GAVI CEO, congratulated the Nigerian government on its innovative health-sector initiatives, including increasing budgetary allocations to health to 4.6 per cent and commitment to providing HPV vaccines for adolescent girls, among others.
She expressed readiness to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to leverage policy instruments and technical expertise to advance health outcomes.
Nishtar announced GAVI’s commitment to providing 250 million dollars grant support to Nigeria, as well as its dedication to addressing vaccine inequity in Africa through initiatives like the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator.
She noted that for the initiative, GAVI earmarked 1bn dollars to support the sustainable growth of Africa’s manufacturing base for vaccine production.
Nishtar added, “Nigeria is a very special country in Africa. It is a special country in the world and it is a very special country for us in GAVI.
“There is a dictum in GAVI that says, ‘there is no success for GAVI without success in Nigeria.”
She also informed the President that the GAVI Board would be meeting in the coming weeks to decide on policy decisions to impact the way Nigeria receives support from the organisation, beyond 2028, noting that her visit to the country was for discussions with Nigeria’s health managers.
