…Pledges Gavi’s continued support for Nigeria 

The Federal government has invested over $500 million dollars in procurement of live-saving vaccines in the last 20 years.

Chief Executive Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Dr. Sania Nishtar who disclosed this on Friday during a facility tour of the solarised Apo Primary Health Care Centre in Abuja observed that GAVI and the government of Nigeria has had a very long-term partnership adding that the federal government has done an amazing job of immunising 75 million children over the last 20 years.

 

She said , “We are here to reaffirm our partnership. I am here to convey to Nigeria that GAVI will continue its support of Nigerian children and the government of Nigeria and over the next five years we are going to invest over half a billion dollars to support the procurement of vaccines and to provide support for health system strengthening and this is a true partnership. This is not charity.

We come to your country with a lot of respect and humility. This is a true partnership because the Nigerian government also pays for the cost of vaccines. I am here to convey that over the next five years this partnership will continue and this will really help to avoid necessary deaths, disease and debility amongst children and adults going forward”.

 

Nishtar stated that Gavi remains committed to supporting Nigeria’s efforts to reach millions of zero-dose children, strengthen health systems and improve health outcomes for women, children and vulnerable populations across the country.

She described the visit to the Apo Primary Health Centre as encouraging, noting that access to quality maternal, child health and immunisation services at the community level is essential to reducing preventable deaths and disease. She added that

 

” It is really very heartwarming to see women come with their children seeking basic health services, antenatal services, vaccination, other primary health care services. The last mile is where things matter the most, so it’s really heartwarming to see the community wanting to access services and the government very willing to provide those services and step up for support for those communities. These services really help to reduce mortality and morbidity and reduce and prevent unnecessary deaths and disease and suffering”.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Muyi Aina noted that Nigeria’s partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and other development partners is strengthening access to quality primary healthcare and routine immunisation across the country.

Aina commended Gavi’s new US$`500 million grant to support vaccines and primary healthcare in Nigeria from 2026 to 2030, describing it as a major boost to sustainable healthcare delivery.

 

The NPHCDA boss described the health centre as a model of collaboration among the Federal Government, the local government and Gavi

He said, “We remain very appreciative of the partnership that we have with Gavi in particular but also a lot of our partners that work with us as we strive to improve the access and quality of basic health services to all Nigerians”.

“This Apo Primary Health Centre is one facility that is reflective of the collaboration. The facility is built and operated by the local government.It is funded through Basic Healthcare Provision Fund by the federal government. Gavi supports the facility with vaccine commodities in collaboration with the federal government but at the same time Gavi supported us to solarise the facility and that is why you see this beautiful and successful output and for us that kind of partnership is what will really drive sustainability”.

 

On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of the Vaccine Network for Disease Control, (VNDC), Chika Offor highlighted the importance of partnership in ensuring quality healthcare delivery and commended Gavi for supporting the facility with solar system to improve services in the facility.

 

She emphasized the need for residents of the community to bring their children to the facility to take life saving vaccines in order to reduce the high number of zero dose children and reduce child mortality in the country.