American philanthropist and Microsoft Co-founder, Bill Gates, says Nigeria does not need to spend too much on acquiring COVID-19 vaccines but should rather focus more on revitalising the weak and underfunded health sector especially the primary health care centres.
Gates said this during a chat with journalists on Tuesday.
This followed comment by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, that Nigeria would require over 400 billion naira to vaccinate 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population at 8 dollars per vaccine.
When asked if it was appropriate for Nigeria to spend such a huge sum of money on vaccine acquisition in the midst of other issues plaguing the health sector, Gates maintained that there was no doubt that the impact of putting money into the health system particularly the primary healthcare system would be very high in terms of saving children’s lives
He said Nigeria should not divert the very limited money that it has for health into trying to pay a high price for COVID vaccines.
Gates said Nigeria could also rely largely on groups like GAVI the Vaccine Alliance for COVID-19 vaccines.
He argued that investing in the primary health system would improve coverage and build Nigeria’s response in tackling other diseases.
He was of the opinion that there are literally millions of lives that can be saved if the primary health system operates effectively.
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