Health
FG, partners review COVID-19 gains, plan for future health threats
Deborah Tolu-Kolawole
The Federal Government and its development partners on Thursday reviewed the legacy of COVID-19 interventions in Nigeria.
They highlighted how investments made during the pandemic have strengthened the country’s capacity to respond to future health threats while calling for urgent measures to sustain the gains.
Stakeholders made the call at the COVID-19 Grant Dissemination Meeting held in Abuja with the theme, “Managing Partners’ Response, Celebrating Lessons and Shaping the Future.”
The event was managed by Nigeria Health Watch and organised by the Global Fund in partnership with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
Speaking at the event on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom, the Director-General of NACA, Dr. Temitope Ilori, said the COVID-19 Resource Mobilisation programme had left behind critical infrastructure and systems that continue to strengthen Nigeria’s health sector.
According to her, investments under the programme enhanced disease surveillance, laboratory capacity, oxygen infrastructure and community-based healthcare services, helping to improve the country’s preparedness for future outbreaks.
“It was a significant investment aimed at strengthening our surveillance systems, laboratories, oxygen infrastructure and community-based healthcare services. These investments have contributed not only to the COVID-19 response but also to broader efforts to strengthen the resilience of Nigeria’s health system,” Ilori said.
She noted that lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic have improved Nigeria’s ability to respond to emerging health threats, including the recent Ebola alerts recorded across parts of Africa.
“We have recently faced threats such as Ebola, but because of the lessons learned from COVID-19, we are no longer in panic mode. We have come a long way and are now better prepared to respond to public health emergencies,” she added.
The NACA Director-General described the partnerships built during the pandemic as one of the programme’s most enduring achievements, noting that collaboration among government agencies, development partners, healthcare workers, technical organisations and communities had strengthened the country’s health system.
She, however, stressed that the long-term impact of the investments would depend on how well they are integrated into routine healthcare delivery and maintained beyond the life of the grant.
“The true value of these investments will be measured by how effectively they are integrated into our routine systems, maintained over time and leveraged to improve health outcomes for all Nigerians,” she said.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM)-Nigeria, Dr. Tajudeen Ibrahim, said the focus must now shift from implementation to sustainability.
While commending Principal Recipients and implementing partners for the successful execution of the programme, Ibrahim noted that the COVID-19 grants enabled some of the most significant health infrastructure investments Nigeria had witnessed in recent years.
“Our major concern now, on behalf of stakeholders, is how these investments will be sustained moving forward, considering the deliberate planning and partnerships that contributed to the programme’s success,” he said.
He disclosed that the intervention funded critical projects, including oxygen-generation systems, public health laboratory upgrades and improvements to the country’s health supply chain infrastructure.
“Through the first wave of COVID-19 grants approved between 2021 and 2023, we witnessed unprecedented investment in health system infrastructure.
“To mention just a few examples, there was deliberate investment in oxygen therapy and oxygen-generation infrastructure. We also upgraded warehousing systems, with approximately 23 warehouses renovated, equipped and delivered across the country. Additionally, significant investments were made in public health laboratories,” Ibrahim said.
He urged government institutions, development partners, civil society organisations and beneficiary facilities to take ownership of the infrastructure and systems established through the programme.
On her part, Dr. Yemisi Ogundare of Jhpiego Nigeria said the organisation’s support to Nigeria’s health sector before and during the COVID-19 pandemic had helped strengthen emergency preparedness and response systems.
She explained that with support from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and USAID, Jhpiego assisted in establishing and strengthening eight Public Health Emergency Operations Centres across states to improve outbreak preparedness and response.
Ogundare said stakeholders must ensure that the systems built during the pandemic remain functional and are deployed in responding to future disease outbreaks.
“The responsibility now lies with all of us to sustain these investments and ensure that the gains made through COVID-19 preparedness and response are leveraged for future outbreaks,” she said.
“While we hope outbreaks such as Ebola do not occur, public health emergencies are inevitable. When they arise, we must build on the systems, structures and mechanisms established through this programme.”
She added that partners were documenting lessons from the implementation of the COVID-19 grant to provide evidence and guidance for future health security interventions in Nigeria.
The COVID-19 Resource Mobilisation mechanism was established by the Global Fund in 2020 to help countries mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while strengthening health and community systems.
In Nigeria, the intervention supported investments in disease surveillance, laboratory networks, oxygen infrastructure, emergency preparedness, health supply chains and community health systems. The programme was implemented through a broad partnership involving the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, NACA, NTBLCP, development partners and civil society organisations.
As the COVID-19 grant cycle draws to a close, stakeholders say preserving these investments will be critical to strengthening Nigeria’s preparedness for future epidemics, pandemics and other public health emergencies.
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