Nigeria's Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, has urged the international community to establish a more equitable global pandemic preparedness system. Speaking at a high-level meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Mr Salako emphasized the need for increased financing, technology transfer, and stronger manufacturing capacity in Africa. This, he said, would enable developing countries to respond effectively to future health emergencies.
Effective pandemic preparedness, Mr Salako said, must begin with strong public health systems capable of preventing, detecting, and responding to health threats before they become emergencies. He stressed that prevention is preparedness and that the strength of everyday public health systems determines how effectively nations detect threats early, respond rapidly, and maintain essential services during crises. Nigeria, he said, is strengthening its legal and institutional frameworks to improve its preparedness.
Nigeria is implementing several initiatives to strengthen its public health systems, including expanding digital disease surveillance, institutionalizing the 7-1-7 approach, enhancing genomic sequencing capacity, and improving multi-hazard preparedness. The 7-1-7 approach requires countries to aim to detect a suspected public health threat within seven days, notify the relevant authorities within one day, and complete the initial response within seven days. This approach, Mr Salako said, is crucial for effective pandemic preparedness.
Mr Salako emphasized that equity must remain central to the global PPPR agenda, particularly in ensuring that countries that provide access to pathogens receive fair and timely benefits from the development of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. He called for sustainable and rapidly accessible financing for low- and middle-income countries, alongside technology transfer and stronger domestic manufacturing capacity, particularly in Africa. Nigeria's priorities include stronger national ownership, governance, and legal preparedness.
Nigeria is advancing the One Health approach, strengthening antimicrobial resistance (AMR) governance and infection prevention and control programmes, and expanding emergency workforce capacity at national and sub-national levels. The country's public health laboratory network now covers all 36 states, while Public Health Emergency Operations Centres support responses to outbreaks including Lassa fever, cholera, diphtheria, and meningitis. Nigeria's Joint External Evaluation score also improved from 39 per cent in 2017 to 54 per cent in 2023.
The World Bank's $250 million Health Security Programme is supporting health security capacity at federal and state levels under a One Health approach. Nigeria also wants antimicrobial resistance to remain firmly embedded in the global pandemic preparedness agenda, describing it as "both a current public health threat and a multiplier of pandemic risks". The country will host the fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in December 2026, which will provide an opportunity to accelerate measurable One Health action.
Mr Salako stressed the importance of involving communities in pandemic preparedness, saying public trust cannot be built only after an outbreak has begun. He called for sustained investment in risk communication and community engagement, social listening, community hygiene, and infodemic management between emergencies. Nigeria remains committed to strengthening national and regional capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats, while supporting a global pandemic preparedness framework that is equitable, sustainable, and accountable.
Key points
- Nigeria calls for equitable global pandemic preparedness and increased financing for developing countries.
- The country is strengthening its public health systems, including expanding digital disease surveillance and enhancing genomic sequencing capacity.
- Nigeria will host the fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in December 2026.
