Rahmat Abdulazeez
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Ali Pate says the country can cater to its citizens’ health despite the US Agency for International Development (USAID)’s exit.
US President Donald Trump ordered the closure of USAID, leaving many countries, especially in Africa in limbo and thousands who benefit from the humanitarian agency’s work shocked.
But Pate has said the Federal Government is not bothered about the move and is capable of funding healthcare for the people.
“So for us, we are not complaining. We are full of appreciation to the US government for the contribution they have made,” the minister said on Channels Television’s Hard Copy programme aired on Friday.
“The American people have contributed to taking care of more than 1.3 million Nigerians on antiretroviral therapies, tuberculosis, malaria, and maternal and child health conditions.
“The change in US government policy is the determination of the American people. We can’t complain. What we have determined is that we are primarily responsible for the health of our population.”
He said the government will cope with the new policy and is working “towards exiting the dependency on external assistance” for healthcare in the country.
“We may be a poor country, but we are a capable country, and we are determined to own up to that responsibility. 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,” the minister said.
“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.”
According to him, before the recent US government policy, the Nigerian leadership has been moving in the direction of self-sufficiency in the provision of healthcare for the citizens.
Pate said, “At the end of the day, our approach long before the change in US policy has been towards increasing national ownership. Increasing domestic resources.
“Improving our healthcare value chain and producing what we use. Strengthening our resilience through surveillance laboratory systems so that we deal with infectious diseases. We never really let’s say absolved ourselves of the responsibility for taking care of Nigerians who require government support.”
