22nd February, 2022
By Ikenna Osuoha
Dr. Okai Aku, a public health expert says Nigeria has the human and material resources to deliver on the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) said this on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Nigeria as one of the first six countries to receive support for local vaccine production.
The other countries are Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.
While commending WHO for the gesture, Aku said: “Nigeria has the political will and everything it takes to manufacture the vaccine, I am optimistic we will deliver.
“Even if the human resources are lacking, we can bring in technology from other countries to manufacture it.”
Aku said that reliance on other countries to supply COVID-19 vaccines was inimical to the goal of universal health coverage.
He added that the best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage was to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture their health products.
NAN