On Thursday, President Bola Tinubu instructed Prof Muhammad Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, to collaborate with Wale Edun, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, to ensure the release of funds needed to purchase vaccines.
He promised GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, that Nigeria is committed to paying the remaining counterpart contributions for routine vaccines in 2023.
GAVI offered Nigeria a $250m grant for producing vaccines locally.
Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, conveyed these instructions in a statement titled 'President Tinubu to GAVI CEO: Nigerian manufacturers are capable and ready to produce vaccines.'
According to Ngelale, Tinubu urged GAVI to work with potential Nigerian vaccine manufacturers to ensure fair access to life-saving vaccines for children and adults.
The Nigerian leader based this request on the fact that local manufacturers are capable and ready to mass-produce vaccines.
“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 started her position on March 18, 2024, is currently touring 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.
The President praised Nishtar for visiting Nigeria and supporting the government’s health initiatives. He promised to focus on investing in renewing the health sector, recognizing the need for coordination among federal, state, and local governments.
The GAVI Chief commended the Nigerian government for its creative health initiatives, such as increasing the budget for health to 4.6 percent and promising to provide HPV vaccines for adolescent girls. She also expressed willingness to work with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to use policy tools and technical expertise to improve health outcomes.
She said she is ready to cooperate with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to use policy tools and technical knowledge to improve health outcomes.
Nishtar announced GAVI’s commitment to giving $250 million in grant support to Nigeria and its dedication to addressing vaccine inequality in Africa through programs like the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which has allocated $1 billion to support the sustainable growth of Africa’s vaccine production base.
“Nigeria is an exceptional country. It holds a special place in Africa and the world, and it is important to us in GAVI.
GAVI believes that there can be no success without Nigeria's success,” she said.
The GAVI CEO informed the President that the GAVI Board will meet soon to make policy decisions that will affect how Nigeria receives support from the organization beyond 2028. She stated that her visit to the country was to discuss with Nigeria’s health managers.
