Immunisation: FG, Bill Gates Foundation Sign $75m Financing Agreement

The federal government on Tuesday gave further impetus to childhood immunisation with the signing of  a $75 million  financing agreement between it and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The agreement will ensure that increased government funding for routine immunisation further strengthens primary healthcare for Nigeria’s poorest.

At the signing ceremony in Abuja, the federal government was represented by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, and his Finance counterpart, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, as well as the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole.

The innovative financing agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is aimed at strengthening both routine immunisation (RI) and broader primary healthcare (PHC) services.

Under the agreement, Nigeria will receive incentive financing of up to $75 million over five years from the Gates Foundation as the government meets existing commitments to increase domestic funding of its RI programme.

The incentive financing will be directly invested in Nigeria’s Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) and used in strengthening RI financing and other PHC services for the poorest.

Coming at a time when the country’s revenue generation is constrained, the deal will direct new funds to Nigeria’s broader health sector even as more domestic resources are dedicated to critical childhood vaccines specifically creating a win-win opportunity for essential PHC services to grow in tandem.

According to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma, “Childhood immunisation is one of the most effective and cost-effective health interventions, and I can think of few better long-term investments in Nigeria’s human capital and future prosperity." 

In April of last year, the federal government, through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, finalised its Nigeria Strategy for Immunisation and PHC System Strengthening, 2018-2028 (NSIPSS), which outlined plans to spend$1.95 billion on immunisation services over ten years via the national budget and some World Bank loan financing.

In June, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, committed to supporting the NSIPSS with extended donor financing as domestic resources scale up. During this extended transition window, international donors via Gavi will provide Nigeria with US$1 billion, on top of the US$1.95 billion domestic commitment. Together these funds will cover procurement of vaccines, the lion’s share of the costs as well as operational costs for routine and supplementary immunisation activities, and PHC system support.

However, even with the additional Gavi support and loan options, the NSIPSS financing strategy requires significant annual increases in funding for vaccines until the government assumes full responsibility after 2028.

While federal government planning accounts for this, the incentive financing with the Gates Foundation will help reduce the pressure created on the overall health budget by providing new grant financing for PHC each year as domestic vaccine financing commitments are met.

The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, said: “There’s no question that immunisation is an all-around ‘best buy’ for Nigeria, and extremely high value-for-money, but we still have limited resources.

“This innovative financing will allow us to limit trade-offs in the health sector by ensuring that every additional naira released for vaccines unlocks additional resources for broader PHC improvements."