COVID-19: Bill Gates Backs Gov Bello, Urges Nigeria To Prioritise Improving Healthcare Infrastructure Over Vaccines
The honest position of Bill Gates has corroborated the position of Governor Yahaya Bello who said last month that what Nigeria needs is heavy investment on Healthcare Infrastructure instead of devoting billions of naira to the procurement of Covid-19 vaccine.
The Kogi State Governor has always maintained an uncompromising position on the need to reposition the Healthcare facilities of the nation to deal with epidemics.
The Co-founder of Microsoft and renown philanthropist while responding to questions from prominent media houses across African on Tuesday said Nigeria does not need to spend too much on acquiring COVID-19 vaccines but should rather focus more on revitalising the weak and underfunded health sector especially the primary health care centres across the country.
When asked if it was appropriate for Nigeria to spend N400billion the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, had in December informed the Senate that Nigeria would require to vaccinate 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population at $8 per vaccine in the midst of other issues plaguing the health sector, Gates said, “There is no doubt that the impact of putting money into the health system particularly the primary healthcare system will be very high in terms of saving children’s lives and you are absolutely right.
“Nigeria should not divert the very limited money that it has for health into trying to pay a high price for COVID vaccines.”
The Governor had told newsmen one month prior in an interview on television that the need of the nation is improved Medicare, guaranteed by state-of-the-art facilities.
The position of Bill Gates will get Nigerian authorities thinking. But will they be forced to listen to the Governor now that the truth from home has now been re-echoed from abroad?
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