Nigeria Gets $191million Gavi Grant to Strengthen Health System, Immunization Coverage

Nigeria has received $191M Health Systems Strengthening (HSS 3) grant from GAVI, a vaccine alliance, to boost health system and immunization in order to save Nigerian children from deaths resulting from vaccine-preventable diseases.

The grant was also to help campaign to protect over 100 million children against Measles and Rubella, the alliance largest ever such campaign of funding over the next 4 years.

Speaking at the HSS 3 launch in Abuja Friday, the GAVI Director of Health Systems and Immunization Strengthening, Alex de Jonquieres,said the grant is one of the largest ever made by Gavi and is intended to help extend the reach of the health system to reach 1.8 million zero dose children and increase immunization coverage to 84% by 2028.

He said the grant was designed by the Government of Nigeria through an inclusive planning process across Federal Ministry of Health and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and other agencies at the federal and state levels and with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) many other partners and civil society and private sector organizations.

According to him, the gesture received strong endorsement from the technical review panel for its strategic vision, digital innovation and focus on sustainability.

“Nearly 80% of is supporting work at the sub-national level and more than 10% of that will flow to civil society organizations working at the community level to ensure the funding is available as close as possible to the communities we are seeking to reach. The National Traditional Leaders’ Committee will be a key partner in helping amplify these efforts at the sub-national level.

“In addition, we are also investing close to $100M this year in a vaccination campaign to protect over 100 million children against Measles and Rubella, our largest ever such campaign.

“This support is designed to fully align with the pioneering Sector Wide Approach and health sector reform programme being led by the Coordinating Minister. At the same time, Gavi investment is intended to be catalytic and complementary to investments by the Government of Nigeria.

“We therefore look to the government to continue to increase domestic investment in the health sector and in immunisation specifically.

“We also look forward to robust accountability from both the Government and implementing partners to ensure that every Naira invested results in systemic improvements in the performance of the health system and ultimately lead to more Nigerian children’s lives being saved.

“I believe Nigeria is on the cusp of transforming its immunisation programme and massively accelerating progress to protect every child with immunisation. I am excited that today marks the first step in that journey towards a future in which no child dies unnecessarily from a disease that could have been prevented by vaccine”, he said.

Speaking at the launch, the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate,said Nigeria has launched HSS3 to strengthen its health system and ensure a healthier future for all children and women.

The UNICEF Representative stated that, with support from Gavi and partners, significant progress has been made in enhancing health and immunization systems, noting that the efforts continue despite ongoing challenges.

The Representative outlined achievements to include, rehabilitation of cold chain equipment through CCEOP and HSS funding, introduction of vaccine hubs and openLMIS, Nigeria’s electronic vaccine and logistic data management system, and strengthened Primary Health Care Systems capacities in 8 MoU states.

Others are, expanded coverage in rural and underserved areas, including over 1.7 million zero dose children, response to outbreaks like COVID-19, diphtheria, and measles.

According to Munduate, despite progress made, gaps in Nigerian Health System: “Need for stronger leadership and management oversight, deficits in coordination and strategic integration of programs and interventions across governments, inadequacy of data and information systems, limited capacities for effective financial management and accountability.

Munduate said the launch is a great support to Nigeria’s health and immunization system for the next 3years, noting that it will help some gaps address resource gaps and building a resilient health system in Nigeria Call to Action.

“Government and private sector must prioritize health financing, strengthen Primary Healthcare through expanding the BHCPF and ensure accountability in resource use”, the UNICEF boss said.

In his talking point, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Mohammed Pate expressed appreciation to Gavi for all its investment in the Nigerian health sector for several decades, and added that the government and people of Nigeria will remain grateful to Gavi and will not take its partnership and collaboration for granted.

He informed that Gavi investment in Nigeria has saved millions of lives and enabled the country’s immunization program to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Pate added that it also enabled the country to introduce new vaccines, including HPV, malaria and Mpox vaccines.

The minister noted that the mission of Gavi to save lives and protect people’s health by increasing lives, reduce both physical and financial pain and produce health for all Nigerians.

He reiterated the fact that the government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is passionate about making quality health services equitably accessible and affordable to all, and rapidly reducing maternal and deaths.

He said that the Government of Nigeria considers investing in the health sector as a key dividend of democracy and that the provision of quality health services as a fundamental right of every citizen, in line with the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Pate said it is evidenced by the yearly increase in the annual health budget and the government’s mobilization of domestic funds to close the funding gap as a result of the policy changes by some of our traditional donors.

He assured that all Gavi and other donor investments in Nigeria will be will be complemented by domestic funds, and judiciously utilized as the government is committed to accountability across all levels of governance, including for the health workers and other service providers.

Pate commended the leadership of the country’s health teams, especially the NPHCDA and other Agencies for the successful implementation of HSS 2 support.