President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, 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, Wale Edun, to ensure the release of necessary funds for vaccine procurement.
He assured the Vaccine Alliance, GAVI, of Nigeria’s commitment to fulfilling its outstanding counterpart contributions for routine vaccines for 2023.
This came as GAVI offered Nigeria a $250m grant for local vaccine production.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, announced these directives in a statement on Thursday titled ‘President Tinubu to GAVI CEO: Nigerian manufacturers are capable and ready to produce vaccines.’
According to Ngelale, Tinubu asked GAVI, to collaborate with potential Nigerian vaccine manufacturers to ensure equitable access to life-saving vaccines for children and adults.
The Nigerian leader premised this request on the argument that local manufacturers are capable and ready to produce vaccines at scale.
“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 told a delegation of GAVI led by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Sania Nishtar, at the State House, Abuja.
Nishtar who assumed office on March 18, 2024, is on a tour of some African countries.
He argued that the partnership on local vaccine production has become necessary due to the challenges faced by developing countries, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious disease outbreaks.
His comments followed the designation of Nigeria as one of the six countries in Africa designated as manufacturing bases for the COVID-19 vaccine in February 2022.
In August of that year, former President Muhammadu Buhari assured the German-based mRNA vaccine manufacturer BioNTech of Nigeria’s readiness to collaborate on the local production of vaccines.
Buhari said he looked forward to receiving a commitment from the company to expand collaboration to achieve Nigeria’s goal of developing capacities for research, development and manufacturing.
At Thursday’s meeting, Tinubu told the GAVI CEO, “We intend to contribute to the development of our healthcare programme, and we are committed to partnering with GAVI.”
He affirmed that his administration is focused on ensuring that no child is left behind when it comes to vaccination against preventable childhood diseases.
“GAVI’s commitment to humanity is recognized 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,” Tinubu said.
The President also acknowledged the invaluable perspective shared by the GAVI CEO, who hails from a developing country, Pakistan, and emphasized the importance of leveraging her experience for the benefit of children’s health.
Commending Nishtar for her visit to Nigeria and support for the administration’s health-sector initiatives, the President pledged to prioritise investments in health-sector renewal, noting the importance of coordination and collaboration among federal, state, and local governments.
In her remarks, the GAVI Chief 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 $250m grant support to Nigeria, as well as its dedication to addressing vaccine inequity in Africa through initiatives like the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which has earmarked $1 billion to support the sustainable growth of Africa’s manufacturing base for vaccine production.
“Nigeria is a very special country. It 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 said.
The GAVI CEO also informed the President that the GAVI Board will be meeting in the coming weeks to decide on policy decisions that will impact how Nigeria receives support from the organisation, beyond 2028, and that her visit to the country was for discussions with Nigeria’s health managers.