The European Union (EU) says it will invest €18 million to fund vaccine research in Nigeria.
The Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, disclosed this in Abuja at the presentation of the National Plan for Vaccine Research and Development and Local Production 2024-2034.
The plan was developed by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), with support from the EU and Bulgaria Government.
At the meeting, Isopi, who was represented by Prof. Leila Mathieu, said that the EU was aligned with the nation’s priorities.
She added that the development of the plan was timely and could not come at a better moment.
She said that the minister of state for health was also taking the plan to the highest level with the EU to discuss other parts of it.
“When we do a plan, we have to put money in research, but then manufacturing must follow.
“So, we are going to invest €18 million in research in vaccines in Nigeria with full grants to some public research institutions and other implementing partners.
“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 African level.
Isopi added that the EU had several other smaller projects in the pipeline in Nigeria on public health institutions and digital health that it would develop.
The Bulgarian Ambassador to Nigeria, Yanko Yordanov, said that on his arrival to Nigeria three years ago, his ambition was to change the pattern from business as usual to acting as a strategic partner of Nigeria.
He said that the partnership with Nigeria in the health sector was regarded as a partnership and an investment
