Nigeria is moving closer to the establishment of a national centre for vaccine research and development to improve the country’s response to the outbreak of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

A bill has been read for the second time by the House of Representatives, according to Business Day Nigeria. Among the arguments in favour of the bill was that it would ensure that existing diseases in the country would be treated.

‘We spent billions just to procure a vaccine for COVID-19,’ according to Kasimu Maigari, Taraba state representative. ‘This bill, if passed, will help the whole nation to develop our own vaccine and to save a lot of billions we expend annually.’

Borno state representative Haruna Mshelia adds that the centre would be a game changer in healthcare delivery. ‘Even though we have some research institutes, the country needs one specifically for research development and manufacturing to tackle present and future diseases.’

15 February 2022
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