FG, Partners push to sustain Post-COVID health gains

By Olayimika Raimi 

The Federal Government and its development partners have reviewed the impact of COVID-19 interventions in Nigeria, highlighting significant improvements in the country’s health system while calling for urgent measures to sustain the gains.

The review took place at the COVID-19 Grant Dissemination Meeting held in Abuja, where stakeholders assessed the outcomes of investments made during the pandemic and explored strategies for strengthening future health security.

Officials noted that the COVID-19 Resource Mobilisation programme, introduced in 2020, delivered critical upgrades across Nigeria’s health sector. These include improvements in disease surveillance systems, laboratory capacity, oxygen infrastructure and community-based healthcare services.

Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr. Temitope Ilori, said the interventions have significantly improved Nigeria’s preparedness to respond to public health emergencies.

According to her, the country’s response to recent Ebola alerts across parts of Africa demonstrates the progress made since the pandemic.

“We are no longer in panic mode. We have come a long way and are now better prepared to respond to public health emergencies,” she said.

Key achievements of the programme also include the renovation and equipping of approximately 23 warehouses nationwide to strengthen health supply chains, as well as the establishment of eight Public Health Emergency Operations Centres to enhance outbreak response coordination.

Stakeholders further emphasised that partnerships between government institutions, development agencies, healthcare workers and communities played a crucial role in the success of the programme.

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However, concerns were raised about the sustainability of these investments as the COVID-19 grant cycle comes to an end.

The Executive Secretary of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism in Nigeria, Dr. Tajudeen Ibrahim, stressed that attention must now shift from implementation to long-term maintenance.

“Our major concern now is how these investments will be sustained moving forward,” he said.

Experts warned that public health emergencies are inevitable and urged all stakeholders to take ownership of the infrastructure and systems established during the pandemic.

They also called for the integration of these systems into routine healthcare delivery to ensure long-term impact.

In addition, partners disclosed that lessons learned from the COVID-19 interventions are being documented to guide future health security strategies in Nigeria.

As the country transitions from pandemic response to long-term resilience, stakeholders agree that preserving these gains will be critical to safeguarding Nigeria against future epidemics and strengthening its overall health system.