Chioma Umeha
By harnessing complementary donor resources,
agreement ensures that increased government funding for routine immunisation
will further strengthen primary healthcare for Nigeria’s poorest
The Federal Government of Nigeria, represented
jointly by the Honourable Ministers of Budget and National Planning, Finance,
and Health, today announced a new innovative financing agreement with the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at strengthening both routine immunisation
(RI) and broader primary healthcare (PHC) services.
Under the agreement, Nigeria will receive
incentive financing of up to US$75 million over five years from the Gates
Foundation as the government meets existing commitments to increase domestic
funding of its RI program. The incentive financing will be directly invested in
Nigeria’s Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), strengthening other PHC
services for the poorest. Coming at a time when the overall national budget is
under pressure, the deal will direct new funds to Nigeria’s broader health
sector even as more domestic resources are dedicated to critical childhood
vaccines specifically—creating a win-win opportunity for essential PHC services
to grow in tandem.
In April of last year, the Federal Government—led by
the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency—finalized its Nigeria
Strategy for Immunisation and PHC System Strengthening, 2018-2028 (NSIPSS),
which outlined plans to spend US$1.95 billion on immunisation services over ten
years via the national budget and some World Bank loan financing. In June,
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, committed to supporting the NSIPSS with extended
donor financing as domestic resources scale up. During this extended transition
window, international donors via Gavi will provide Nigeria with US$1 billion,
on top of the US$1.95bn domestic commitment. Together these funds will cover
procurement of vaccines—the lion’s share of the costs—as well as operational
costs for routine and supplementary immunisation activities, and PHC system
support.
However, even with the additional Gavi support and
loan options, the NSIPSS financing strategy requires significant annual
increases in funding for vaccines until the government assumes full
responsibility after 2028.
While Federal Government planning accounts for
this, the incentive financing with the Gates Foundation will help reduce the
pressure this creates on the overall health budget by providing new grant
financing for PHC each year as domestic vaccine financing commitments are met.
