The Honourable Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole on Monday June 11th, 2018,
announced the Gavi Board’s approval to continue support for immunization in Nigeria and
extend the transition period from 2021 to 2028. After reviewing the robust transition plan
jointly developed by the government and her partners, the Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala-led Gavi
Board granted Nigeria an unprecedented flexibility in timing and funding, to ensure the 4.3
million under-vaccinated Nigerian children get a fair chance to be protected from vaccinepreventable diseases and death.
The investment of 1 billion dollars in Gavi support under this agreement, will unlock an
additional $2 billion from the Government of Nigeria. This money will be used to procure
vaccines and strengthen the immunization and primary health care system over the next ten
years. Nigeria stands to save more than one million lives if this strategic plan is implemented
as planned.
Although a 2016 national survey revealed that immunization coverage rates were very low at
33%, there are positive signs of change. The bold vision and brilliant reforms of the National
Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) have signalled to the global community
that it is no longer business as usual at the Agency. Renewed confidence in the new NPHCDA
has given the Gavi Board the faith to make this large investment.
The scale of the country’s ambition is inspiring and the opportunity to contribute to this vision
is humbling. As the Expanded Civil Society Initiative on Immunization (ECSII), we are the voice
of the community, advocates for the masses and partners in progress in Nigeria. We will
collaborate with the government to get vaccines to the Nigerian people; commend the
government when they meet the expectations of the people and call out the government
when they fail the people.
It is on this note that we wish to congratulate the government of Nigeria on achieving this
unprecedented feat, while reminding them, that despite the approval by the Gavi Board, the
job is not yet done. There are conditions precedent to kick-starting the support. We therefore
call on the Federal Government to finish this leg of the race by ensuring that:
1. Gavi receives by June 14th, 2018, the amount of $245,000, being the balance of the full
repayment due to Gavi.
2. An accountability framework is developed (with the active participation of ECSII/civil
society) and deployed to ensure that the programmatic and fiscal commitments made
by all parties are kept.
We commit ourselves to the diligent monitoring of the government and partners’
commitments in this regard. We are optimistic that the NPHCDA, with the support and
leadership of the Honourable Minister of Health, can deliver on its mandate. We look forward
to working together on the long road ahead to ensure that this investment bears fruit for the
health and wellbeing of all Nigerian citizens, and especially the most vulnerable ones amongst
us – the children.
