Vice-President Kashim Shettima has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to working with member states of the African Union (AU) to advance health security and sovereignty across the continent.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 39th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the vice-president said Africa must reduce its dependence on fragile global supply chains and shifting international priorities in safeguarding public health.
According to a statement by his spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima stressed that Nigeria is prepared to collaborate broadly within the Union to turn health sovereignty into measurable outcomes.
“Nigeria stands ready to collaborate with every member state of our Union to make health security sovereignty measurable in factories commissioned, laboratories accredited, health workers trained, counterfeit markets dismantled, and insurance coverage expanded,” he said.
He underscored the interdependence of African states in confronting health threats, warning that vulnerabilities in one country could quickly spread across borders.
“Health security is national security, and in an interconnected continent, national security is continental security.
“A virus, as we have witnessed, does not carry a passport. A counterfeit medicine does not respect a border. A pandemic does not wait for bureaucracy.”
Shettima explained that Nigeria is intensifying efforts to expand local production of essential pharmaceuticals, strengthen domestic health financing, and tighten regulatory systems to improve health outcomes nationwide.
Highlighting reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the vice-president said the government had taken concrete steps to reposition the health sector.
“Nigeria has approached this challenge with seriousness under the leadership of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In December 2023, we launched the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, securing over 2.2 billion dollars in health-sector commitments anchored in measurable outcomes,” he said.
He added that authorities are “upgrading quality-control laboratories, tightening enforcement against substandard and falsified medicines, and streamlining processes for compliant manufacturers”.
The summit also featured the official launch of the Africa Health Security and Sovereignty Initiative — a joint effort between Nigeria and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention aimed at mobilising investments in health workforce development, strengthening community health systems, and sustaining immunisation programmes across the continent.
