On TETFund’s Strategic Investment in Vaccine Production, by Rahma Oladosu
The deadly coronavirus pandemic which broke out in 2019 has claimed over six million lives globally. In Africa alone, over nine million confirmed cases have been recorded according to the World Health Organisation, WHO, and without a doubt, it has negatively impacted the economy of the region.
Early this year, President Muhammadu Buhari advised member states of the Economic Community of West Africa States, ECOWAS, to accelerate efforts toward developing local vaccines against the deadly virus and its related variants.
While speaking during the virtual ordinary summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, he emphasised that developing local vaccines will help build herd immunities against the COVID-19 pandemic in West Africa.
He added that member states should prioritise the acquisition of the vaccines for their citizens while they increase efforts to develop their own vaccines against the pandemic in West Africa.
The country Director for Nigeria at World bank, Shubham Chaudri, also pointed out that funding would ensure that the Nigerian Government has the necessary financial resources to keep its vaccination drive going. If funding is in place, it simply means Nigerians will have increased access to the COVID-19 vaccination.
“As the Nigerian Government continues to tackle the effect of a third wave of the global pandemic, it is crucial it continues to vaccinate its citizens in addition to the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions to avoid the dreadful consequences of another lockdown that left in its wake an economic toll the country is still grappling with,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib, noted that huge investment is needed to facilitate vaccine production. He added that there are genuine ongoing efforts by the federal government to restart the process of vaccine production.
In the light of this, it would be recalled that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, recently awarded a total of N1,250,000,000.00 (One Billion, Two Hundred and Fifty Million) Naira to four clusters of researchers in the country.
TETFund has over the years invested heavily on research and development in the education sector. It is now diversifying into health which is part of human capital development and has recently recruited five institutions for the purpose of advancing vaccine production in the country.
Three years after COVID, Nigeria has witnessed a major breakthrough as efforts in vaccine development by the cluster of researchers have begun yielding positive results. The first clinical trial is set to commence in November this year.
The Vaccine Production Cluster is made up of researchers from the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom; Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Jos; Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos; and National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria. Led by the Vice Chancellor of Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Professor Lawal Suleiman Bilbis, the team of researchers briefed the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc Sonny Echono, on the progress made so far, explaining that this milestone was achieved through the maximum support of the Fund.
This is a welcome development. If trials are carried out successfully, it would help complement the government’s efforts to halt the spread of COVID-19 and its killer variants
Most importantly, Nigeria will no longer over rely on the western countries for the supply of vaccines and this breakthrough will ensure that the Government meets its plans to vaccinate 51 per cent of its population as soon as possible.
Sustainable funding remains the main public policy intervention for revamping Nigeria’s vaccine production capacity and since there is a consistent movement along this line, recent developments are therefore a cause to celebrate.
Rahma Olamide Oladosu is a Staff Writer with the Economic Confidential
