Nigeria has reiterated its commitment to strengthening health systems and enhancing domestic capacity during the 15th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting, held in Brasília, Brazil
Friday, August 8, 2025
By Edward Samuel
Nigeria has reiterated its commitment to strengthening health systems and enhancing domestic capacity during the 15th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting, held in Brasília, Brazil.
Delivering Nigeria's statement at the high-level summit, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, emphasised the importance of international collaboration in addressing emerging health challenges such as pandemics, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the rising burden of non-communicable diseases.
He conveyed the goodwill of President Bola Tinubu and commended Brazil for hosting the meeting, which convened health leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and other BRICS partners.
Dr Salako highlighted the critical role of South-South cooperation, noting that the BRICS platform enables populous countries to share innovations and collectively tackle global health inequalities.
"We have a shared responsibility to ensure no one is left behind," he stated.
He presented Nigeria's Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, a reform agenda focused on good governance, efficient service delivery, and health security.
According to the minister, the initiative promotes local pharmaceutical production, revitalisation of primary healthcare, and the expansion of health insurance coverage.
Dr Salako also announced major achievements, including Nigeria's record-setting vaccination of over 14 million girls against HPV and a $200 million allocation in the 2025 budget to sustain HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria interventions amid decreasing international donor support.
He further underscored Nigeria's leadership in addressing non-communicable diseases, particularly through the PEN-PLUS strategy, which targets sickle cell disease, type 1 diabetes, and other chronic conditions.
The minister also revealed that Nigeria will host the next high-level ministerial meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in June 2026.
Calling for deeper collaboration among BRICS countries, he invited partnerships in areas such as vaccine production, phytomedicine development, and biomedical research to help bolster Africa's health sovereignty and resilience.
"Our collective strength will be critical in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3. In the face of global health threats, humanity must act as one," Dr Salako concluded.
Voice of Nigeria