The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate; former Minister of Health and Nigeria's Ambassador-designate to Canada, Prof Isaac Adewole; and APIN Public Health Initiatives have called for new financing strategies to sustain Nigeria's public health programmes. They spoke in Abuja during the 25th anniversary celebration and public health symposium of APIN Public Health Initiatives, where stakeholders reflected on 25 years of public health interventions and discussed strategies for sustaining gains amid a rapidly changing global funding landscape.
Warnings on Donor Reduction
Speaking on the symposium theme, “Sustaining Health Gains Amid Global Uncertainty: Evidence-Based Pathways to Future Impact,” Adewole warned that recent reductions in development assistance by donor countries could undermine decades of progress in public health if countries fail to strengthen domestic financing mechanisms. Stakeholders at the event agreed that sustaining gains against HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and other public health threats would require stronger domestic financing, resilient health systems and deeper collaboration among government, development partners and indigenous institutions.
Progress in Under-Five Mortality
Adewole said global under-five mortality declined significantly between 1990 and 2021 due to improved immunisation coverage, better management of pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria, enhanced nutrition and improved maternal healthcare services. He noted that significant progress has also been recorded in the fight against HIV/AIDS through wider access to antiretroviral therapy, decentralised treatment services, prevention of mother-to-child transmission programmes and community-based interventions.
Tuberculosis and Malaria Gains
Adewole said tuberculosis control efforts have benefited from the scale-up of Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS), the deployment of GeneXpert diagnostic technology and improved integration of TB and HIV services. He added that malaria interventions, including the distribution of insecticide-treated nets, increased access to artemisinin-based combination therapies, rapid diagnostic testing and the introduction of malaria vaccines, have reduced the burden of the disease in many countries.
HPV Vaccine Milestone
The former minister further disclosed that Nigeria has vaccinated nearly 17 million girls against cervical cancer through the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine programme. Despite the achievements, Adewole warned that climate change, pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, economic instability, food insecurity and declining donor support now pose major threats to public health gains. He observed that cuts in overseas development assistance are no longer limited to the United States, noting that several European countries have also reduced their aid budgets.
APIN's Future Outlook
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of APIN Public Health Initiatives, Prof Prosper Okonkwo, expressed confidence that the organisation would continue to thrive despite shifts in the global health financing landscape. Okonkwo said: “As we look to the future, we do so with great enthusiasm and expectation, even as the global health funding landscape continues to shift in ways that few of us would have predicted a few years ago.”
