Nigeria spends between $90 million and $100 million every year as counterpart funds to procure vaccines, according to the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).
Muyi Aina, the executive director of the NPHCDA, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with BusinessDay in Abuja while stressing the government’s commitment to ensuring vaccines reach the intended population and are not wasted.
Nigeria administers at least 27 vaccines as part of its routine immunisation programme, protecting citizens against diseases such as polio, meningitis, cervical cancer, and COVID-19, among others.
Aina spoke in the context of the over 846,000 doses of malaria vaccine recently received by Nigeria, noting that the malaria vaccine alone accounts for almost a third of the government’s annual vaccine expenditure.
“The government pays counterpart funding, even though we receive generous donations from global partners. This contribution amounts to nearly $90 to $100 million each year. We conducted an analysis to identify the vaccines with the highest cost, and the malaria vaccine will consume almost a third of the total budget,” Aina said.
Read also: Nigeria in $124m scramble for malaria vaccine
He emphasised the strategic deployment of the malaria vaccine, given its importance and cost, to prevent wastage.
“Because it’s a new tool, it’s still quite expensive, but more importantly, there’s a supply constraint, because it is also very expensive. It’s not the kind of vaccine that you want to waste. It’s also important for us as a country to deploy it and learn”, he explained.
He further elaborated on the phased deployment strategy, saying: “To minimise waste, we are focusing initially on high-volume locations to allow us to learn.”
Aina underscored the importance of the malaria vaccine in Nigeria’s fight against the disease, which remains a national health priority. He assured the public of the vaccine’s safety and reliability, stating, “The government will not introduce anything that is not reliable.”
The executive director also recalled that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) had approved the vaccine, following recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Aina further announced the government’s plan to combine the malaria vaccine with other preventive measures—such as insecticide-treated nets and seasonal chemoprophylaxis, which together offer up to 92 percent protection—to yield the best results.
“We are trying to learn the best way to do this before we expand”, he said.
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