Gom Mirian
The European Union (EU) has pledged €18 million to fund vaccine research in Nigeria, as part of a larger effort to enhance vaccine manufacturing in Africa.
The investment was announced by the Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Amb. Samuela Isopi, during the presentation of the National Plan for Vaccine Research and Development and Local Production 2024-2034 in Abuja.
The plan, developed by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) with support from the EU and the Bulgarian Government, aims to strengthen Nigeria’s vaccine research and local production capabilities.
The EU’s investment will provide grants to public research institutions and other implementing partners to advance vaccine research in the country.
Ambassador Yanko Yordanov of Bulgaria expressed his country’s commitment to the project, offering funding and expertise in vaccine research and development. Stating, “We will be working closely with your ministry and of course, your public institutions on that and we will be working closely also in a Team Europe spirit with Bulgaria.
“Manufacturing of vaccines is a Team Europe initiative with Africa on a continental level so we have other partners at the African level,” he said. “I can reassure you that what we are aiming to do is a sustainable, long-term partnership that will transcend throughout the years,” he said, adding that “the EU is a generous organisation to Africa, and had taken note of Nigeria’s request for more funding and will do what is appropriate in that regard.”
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tunji Alausa, emphasised the urgency of local vaccine production in Nigeria, where currently less than one per cent of vaccines used are produced domestically.
