American philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has advised the Nigerian government to prioritize fixing its healthcare sector rather than spending money on COVID-19 vaccines.
Bill Gates gave the advice during a virtual press conference on Tuesday ahead of the launch of the 2021 Bill and Melinda Gates Annual Letters.
Gates said that the deaths from the deficits of primary health care were dramatically higher every year than the total deaths going on in Africa from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He stressed that the impact of investing funds into the health system, particularly the primary health care system, would be very high in terms of saving children’s lives.
Bill Gates advised the Nigerian government to wait for the GAVI vaccines rather than diverting its limited health fund into trying to pay a high price for other COVID-19 vaccines.
He strongly advised the government to invest the proposed vaccine funds into other health-related areas, stressing that it would assist to deepen vaccine coverage and save lives.
“The key is that Nigeria is still eligible (for GAVI Vaccinee), and so, for a lot of those vaccines, they will come through the GAVI facility that we’ve raised money for.
“I’m an advocate for the government to have more resources and prioritise health. Obviously I’m not a voter in Nigeria, so Nigeria can decide that independently.
“So my advice is that the primary health care system is what’s super important and that with those finite resources, you have to prioritise expenditure.
“And in that case, waiting for the GAVI vaccines would be the best thing. So I hope it causes everyone in society to look at these health issues.
“There should be close to 100 per cent coverage of all the vaccines and you need to have those very functional primary health care systems because the number of lives you can save is absolutely huge,” he said.