Prof Ali Pate, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, has assured that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is prepared to manage the impact of the US aid freeze on Nigeria’s health sector.
The United States government, under President Donald Trump, has suspended all foreign aid for 90 days, affecting global health interventions, including in Nigeria.
Legit.ng reported that in Konduga, Borno, a healthcare facility run by Family Health International (FHI360) that treated over 200 patients daily, has shut down following President Trump’s suspension of US foreign assistance.
Despite the US aid freeze, affecting 28,000 Nigerian healthcare workers, Pate emphasised Nigeria’s commitment to self-reliance in healthcare financing.
He added that Nigeria’s government has taken steps to sustain healthcare interventions and reduce dependency on foreign assistance.
USAID: Tinubu to decide the fate of 28,000 health workers
In an interview with Channels Television’s Hard Copy programme, Prof Ali Pate, also insisted that the Nigerian government is not complaining but grateful to the US government.
Pate added that the salaries of the 28,000 Nigerian healthcare workers affected by the USAID freeze will be paid by Tinubu’s government.
He added that Nigeria is capable of funding its healthcare sector without relying entirely on foreign assistance.
The minister said:
“For us, we are not complaining; we are full of appreciation to the US government for the contribution they have made: the American people have contributed in taking care of more than 1.3 million Nigerians on anti-viral therapies, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health conditions. The change in US government policy is the determination of the American people. We can’t complain.
“We may be a poor country but we are a capable country and we are determined to own up that responsibility. Now, if others step in and support us, we appreciate it but we are not begging for it and we also will live within what we have but we have the responsibility on us as leaders to ensure that our population gets the care they need. The Federal government is going to do its part. For states, we expect that they will also step in because there are many things that happen at the state level on HIV, TB or malaria. There are health workers, 28,000 of them who were been paid through US government support. While it has been appreciated, those health workers are Nigerians. We have to find ways to transit them.”
USAID’s suspension disrupts family planning in Nigeria
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the suspension of the activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has affected the distribution of family planning commodities in Bauchi state.
The executive chairman of the Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Board, Rilwanu Mohammed, revealed this to the press via a terse statement.
