The Federal Government on Tuesday officially flagged off the implementation cycle of the $933 million grant donated to the country by the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria between 2024 and 2026. Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, the coordinating minister of Health and Social Welfare while speaking during the ceremony in Abuja revealed that the grant would support the building of a resilient and sustainable system for health for pandemic preparedness, ensuring health security for all citizens, especially vulnerable populations such as women and children under the age of five. As the Chairman of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), Dr. Pate emphasized the grant’s role in supporting the government’s efforts against the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. He said Nigeria is the highest recipient of the Global Fund grant in the 2021-2023 implementation periods with over $1.2 billion including COVID-19 allocation.
“The experience from investment in health systems with a high emphasis on laboratory systems strengthening for surveillance, diagnostics, and quality assurance/quality control informed the implementation design of the 2024- 2026 implementation period.
"At the end of 2023, more than 87 million nets have been distributed across Nigeria over the last five years with the Global Fund’s support. The governments of Nigeria, PEPFAR, the Global Fund, and other partners’ efforts have significantly increased the number of people diagnosed with HIV and placed on antiretroviral therapy,” the minister said.
Highlighting the importance of state involvement, Dr. Pate urged states to take leadership and ownership of the process to ensure sustainability.
Dr. Pate called on the media and religious leaders to encourage communities to access care at designated facilities, both public and private.
Pate promised that there will be an increase in the Prevention of mother-to-child Transmission (PMCT) services from now till 2026 using the primary healthcare systems.
