Nigeria to Lose N7Bn Vaccines Subsidy

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) has resolved to stop a N7 billion vaccines subsidy to Nigeria by 2022, according to Nnamdi Okafor, managing director of May and Baker Plc.

Okafor who spoke to New Telegraph at the weekend, said that urgent efforts should be channeled towards setting up local manufacturing of vaccines to enable the Federal Government stop the importation of vaccines into the country.

He noted that the GAVI’s intention to stop funding the supply of vaccines by 2022 was to pave the way for local production of drugs in order to develop local markets.

According to him, the agency finances 80 per cent of the cost of vaccines that comes into the country. The managing director stressed the need for alternate source of fund to cushion the withdrawal of the subsidy in future.

Okafor said: “Today, we have GAVI financing about 80 per cent cost of vaccines that comes into this country every year. Of course, if every year we spend N7 billion buying vaccines, if you lose 80 per cent of that funding, there is nowhere the Federal Government of Nigeria will find that money to fill that gap? “That is why stakeholders like Pharma Health Care Development Agency and other stakeholders are looking at other Nigerians who have the money to contribute to this important course.

“The withdrawal of that subsidy definitely would mean that if nothing is done between now and 2022, Nigeria may not have enough vaccine to immunize children, which I do not think would happen. That is why people have started now to work towards it to ensure that we do not get to the point where we cannot vaccinate our children.” The May and Baker boss said that the stakeholders had agreed at a meeting that the most viable option was to manufacture the vaccines locally.

He said: “We shall therefore step up efforts and with the collaboration of our partners, the Federal Government, we assure you that the project will soon take-off for the best interest of Nigerians.”

Okafor urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)’s Common External Tariff (CET) implementation in Nigeria, noting that the treaty was causing production of drugs to be expensive in-country. Okafor stressed: “The other major issue we have is the ECOWAS CET. This is making production of drugs in Nigeria to be more expensive than importation.”