Nigeria faces $200m annual funding gap for immunisation

Nigeria is currently battling with an annual funding deficit of $200 million for immunisation.

The Director General of the Budget Office, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu, revealed this at the Multi-Stakeholders Technical Workshop for the Optimisation of Immunisation Financing in Nigeria, organised by the Vaccine Network for Disease Control in partnership with GAVI and the Global Health Advocacy Initiative on Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, Yakubu said that there is need for increased public sector funding to address the financial gaps in immunisation.

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“Nigeria faces an annual funding gap of $200m out of the required $580m for immunisation. However, considering the public sector’s contribution of only $150m, the actual funding gap is more significant,” he said.

According to him, without international donors like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, the gap would have been a staggering amount of $430m, highlighting Nigeria’s reliance on external aid.

Yakubu in his address also urged the public sector to increase its financial contribution to justify asking the private sector to do a lot more.

“I propose legislation to mandate the public sector to achieve self-sufficiency in vaccine production, storage, and distribution logistics, aligning with the current administration’s goals of import substitution, medical industrialisation, and general industrialisation,” Yakubu said.

“As a way of addressing the funding gap, I recommend bridging the $200m deficit through increased public sector funding, prioritising the actual funding gap of $430m, and leveraging public-private partnerships to establish local vaccine production infrastructure.

“By taking these steps, we can ensure sustainable immunisation financing and protect our population from future pandemics.”