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.
Bill Gates said this while responding to a question during an interview with select African journalists on Tuesday.
Gates gave the advice during a virtual press conference ahead of the launch of the 2021 Bill and Melinda Gates Annual Letters on Tuesday night, January 26.
He said waiting for the GAVI vaccines would be the best thing for Nigeria and that investing proposed vaccine funds into other health-related areas would assist to deepen vaccine coverage and save lives.
“The key is that Nigeria is still eligible (for GAVI Vaccine), and so, for a lot of those vaccines, they will come through the GAVI facility that we’ve raised money for.
I’m an advocate for the government to have more resources and prioritise health. Obviously I’m not a voter in Nigeria, so Nigeria can decide that independently.
So my advice is that the primary health care system is what’s super important and that with those finite resources, you have to prioritise expenditure. And in that case, waiting for the GAVI vaccines would be the best thing” he said.
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