NSSF Partners NPHCDA, Donates N300m to Vaccinate 1m Nigerians

The Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF) has donated N300 million as part of its strategic support to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) in the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Nigeria.

Speaking of the partnership recently in Lagos, the Chairman, NSSF, Babatunde Folawiyo, said the donation was to improve vaccine equity and boost access to COVID-19 vaccination among vulnerable Nigerians.

He said the donation is expected to also help support the COVID-19 advocacy campaign in six states across six geo-political zones in Nigeria, thereby reducing vaccine hesitancy and increasing vaccine uptake.
Benefitting states include Adamawa, Edo, Imo, Katsina, Nasarawa, and Ogun, with a target of each local government area in those states with a roll out target of 60 vaccines a day per team from October 1, 2021. NSSF noted that one million vaccinations would be achieved by December 31 this year.

The NSSF, the brainchild of Global Citizen (GC) and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), noted that as African countries accelerate the deployment of COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine inequity and hesitancy continue to pose a major challenge.

With its multi-donor institutional mechanism for mobilising pooled funds earmarked to support the government’s COVID-19 relief efforts, the donation is to further accelerate the rate of delivering and administering COVID-19 vaccines across the country particularly in rural and urban poor population segments, the group said.

He stated that the campaign would also address the challenge of vaccine hesitancy experienced during the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in Nigeria as well as delays in vaccine rollout due to funding constraints.

The vaccine programme, according to Folawiyo, will commence just as Global Citizens hosts Global Citizen Live in major cities, including Lagos. NSSF is funding the vaccination campaign through donations mobilised from ordinary citizens, philanthropists, donor organisations, business, and government.
The NSSF chairman described the devastating impact of COVID-19 as unquantifiable, adding: “We understand that we cannot leave this fight to end the pandemic to the government alone.”

He noted that public-private partnerships (PPP) are needed if the country is to succeed in the fight against the pandemic and restore social and economic normalcy within the quickest time possible.
Folawiyo explained that the collaboration between the NPHCDA and NSSF would ensure equitable distribution, application of the vaccinations across the country, and promote adequate education and awareness about the benefits of getting vaccinated.

Also, the Executive Director and CEO of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, expressed delight by “this historic partnership, following the signing of an MoU on the provision of funding that would increase COVID-19 vaccine advocacy on its safety and effectiveness, and in turn increase vaccine uptake in Nigeria.”
While emphasising that coverage will be across 133 LGAs and 513 implementing wards across the states, he assured the public that data collection would be monitored by national, state and LGA supervisors using GPS technology.

According to Vice-Chairman, NSSF, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, “The need for private sector interventions to fill noticeable developmental gaps cannot be overemphasised.

“With less than three per cent of the population vaccinated, Nigeria is way below the 60 per cent minimum vaccination threshold required to achieve herd immunity,” he said, adding that therefore NSSF has made it a priority for 2021and 2022.

Commenting also, the General Manager, NSSF, Dr. Fejiro Chinye-Nwoko, highlighted that “NSSF will collaborate with NPHCDA and the states towards achieving the programme set targets during the period of implementation.