Experts in the health sector say the appointment of Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate as the incoming Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance shows a lot of promise for Nigeria's health sector.
They said Nigeria's health system will benefit a lot with Pate at the helm of affairs of Gavi, as the rest of Africa and the world.
The Gavi Board last Monday announced the appointment of Pate as the incoming CEO of the organisation and he will be officially starting the role on August 3.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world's children against some of the world's deadliest diseases.
Pate served as Nigeria's minister of state for health between 2011 and 2013 and is a proven global health leader with experience and significant contributions at the national and international levels. He is a physician, trained in both internal medicine and infectious diseases, and has worked in both the private and public sectors including the World Bank.
During his time as a minister, he led an initiative that revived routine vaccinations and primary health care in Nigeria, chaired a presidential taskforce to eradicate polio and also introduced new vaccines into the country.
"During his time as the executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), between 2008 and 2011, he introduced the midwives service scheme, which increased skill birth attendants in rural areas and reduced infant and maternal mortality rate," says Muyi Aina, a public health professional.
"Pate also pushed for the use of technology such as mobile health to improve healthcare delivery and empower patients. He also established a global coalition of public and private partners to support health system improvement as the minister of state for health. Prof Pate has worked in all spheres of public health and will replicate the same in Gavi."
Chair of the Gavi Board, Professor José Manuel Barroso, said Pate was selected following a yearlong recruitment process and will bring a wealth of experience to the role.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, says with the appointment, Pate becomes the first African and Nigerian to hold the position.
Speaking during a celebration dinner in honour of Pate in Abuja, organised by his friends and associates, the minister said Pate as CEO of Gavi would help improve Nigeria's chances of local production of vaccines. He said, "With Prof Pate as Gavi CEO, in charge of GAVI Vaccine Alliance, our chances are again improved to support the capacity to manufacture vaccines."
According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari had since during the COVID-19 pandemic declared vaccine manufacturing a national security agenda.
He said, "Many people here will recall the agony we suffered when the COVID-19 vaccines were first released, those who produced these vaccines were taking care of themselves without leaving any room for Africa and that was when the president declared vaccine manufacturing a national security item.
While saying that Pate was the best person for the role considering his pedigree and accomplishments, he called on him to support the country's ambition to manufacture vaccines locally.
Ehanire said the sitting CEO, Dr Seth Berkley helped Nigeria by supplying the country COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic such that the country no longer lacks vaccines adding that Nigeria still wants to develop her strategy for vaccine production as a matter of urgency.
The minister added that Pate's appointment is a validation of the global confidence in the processes Nigeria has put in place and strides it has recorded.
Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, said with Pate at the helm of affairs of Gavi, Nigeria has an opportunity to back Pate to support immunisation in Nigeria.
He said, "We need to put more resources into immunisation. Yes, we are developing, we are a beneficiary of Gavi but as a country we have to prioritise immunisation, once we do that our future is assured.
"We can have the vaccines via local manufacturing but we have to deliver the vaccines to the last mile. We need to strengthen our health system, particularly the primary healthcare system.
"Therefore it is an opportunity that we have with a Nigerian in Gavi. And one of the best things we can do for him is to put more resources and emphasis into health generally, particularly on the primary health care system and most specifically immunisation.
"This government has very few months to leave but there is still an opportunity to start from now to increase commitments to vaccines to primary healthcare because we have Pate in Gavi. Because if Pate is working in Gavi for the world, and Nigeria is lagging behind, Pate is not working. So we should make Pate succeed by doing more in the country.
"The various partners working in Nigeria should also increase their commitments because we have a Nigerian in Gavi. So let us work collaboratively with UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others particularly as we will have a change of government in May. So it is an opportunity to increase our commitments so that the future of Nigerian children will be better."
Dr Joseph Kigbu, the Chief Executive Officer of Doctors on The Move Africa (DOTMA) and a former member, House of Representatives said stakeholders in Nigeria are excited about Pate's appointment as Gavi boss because of the many gaps in the healthcare delivery system of the country.
He said in Nigeria only 31% of children under 23 months have received basic vaccination, according to the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2018). "So we need to work harder to meet our target of 80% in the next four years."
He said with Pate in Gavi, children in the world's poorest countries would access all requisite vaccines, and no child in Nigeria will be left behind in immunisation.
Minister of State for Health, Ekumankama Joseph Nkama, said Dr Pate's had made great accomplishments and innovations that had resulted in a precedence that is being followed at the agencies and ministry where he served.
The Director General, Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Secretariat, Asishana Okauru said, "We will not be where we are today with the numbers of gains in the health sector but for Prof Pate."
He said Pate is now part of a growing population rebranding this country like Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Akinwunmi Adeshina and Amina Mohammed among others.
He said it is now time for Nigeria to increase her investment in the health sector.
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The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said that good things will come to Nigeria's health sector through Prof Pate because he looks out for quality, and the good for the country.
She said Prof Pate had earlier invited her to Harvard University to let the world know how NAFDAC had attained the WHO's maturity level three benchmark for regulation of medicines and importation of vaccines within four years.
"Pate wants to show Nigeria off. He wants to show the world what Nigeria can do. He will not forget Nigeria when it comes to local vaccine manufacturing because he has been part of it," she added.
The chairman of the occasion, Emir of Shonga, Dr Haliru Yahaya who was represented by the Emir of Dass, Alhaji Bilyaminu Usman, said Pate as the CEO of NPHCDA, helped in the uptake of immunisation in the northern parts of the country especially where the vaccine resistance was very high.
He said Pate conceived and set up a committee that brought together the traditional institutions of the country, particularly the northern leaders committee on health that was initially on immunisation.
Earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari while congratulating Pate in a statement issued , by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, described Pate's rise across racial and other barriers to become the first black/African to lead Gavi as a very important historical moment not only for him personally but Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
He said "Our hope is that Dr Pate will bring his knowledge, expertise and very rich experience in the administration of vaccines and immunisation in Nigeria and many parts of Africa to increase access to vaccines to further reduce the disturbing levels of child mortality on the continent and all over the world as his job requires."
