In what appears to be a response to the sweeping executive orders by President Trump to withdraw from the WHO and stop contributions to the Pepfar program, the Federal government of Nigeria has approved the sum of N4.8 bn for HIV treatment. This was announced by Nigeria’s Minister of Health shortly after the first Federal Executive council meeting of the year in Nigeria.
“As part of broader healthcare reforms, the council also approved N4.8 billion for the procurement of 150,000 HIV treatment packs over the next four months,” the minister said.
This intervention is crucial as HIV positive persons have been thrown into chaos wondering how they will continue getting their drugs. These drugs are expensive and in most cases, used for life.
This is a welcome development but begs critical questions:
- Is this money enough? Pepfar alone contributed 396m dollars to Nigeria in 2023 (about N590bn)
- What is the source of this money? Is it from an existing fund or a special fund?
- What happens after the initial four months?
- How do we prevent corruption in this new avenue that has been opened?
This is a wonderful opportunity for Nigeria and a step in the right direction to strengthen our healthcare system and reduce dependence on foreign aid. However, it must be well implemented and shielded from the greed of politicians.
It is also note worthy that the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, approved an Emergency Humanitarian Waiver that allows people living with HIV to continue accessing treatment funded by the US government across 55 countries worldwide including Nigeria.