According to the European Union (EU), Nigeria would receive funding for vaccine research totaling 18 million euros. This was revealed in Abuja at the introduction of The National Plan for Vaccine Research and Development and Local Production 2024–2034 by Amb. Samuela Isopi, Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS.
The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) created the plan with assistance from the governments of Bulgaria and the EU. Isopi, represented at the meeting by Prof. Leila Mathieu, stated that the EU shared the same interests as the country. She continued by saying that the timing of the plan’s development could not have been better.
She said that in order to discuss other aspects of the plan, the state minister for health was also bringing it before the EU at the highest level. “When we design a plan, funding for research is required, but manufacturing must come next.”Thus, we will allocate 18 million euros to vaccine research in Nigeria, fully funding a few governmental research institutes as well as additional implementing partners.
We will collaborate closely on it with your ministry and, naturally, your public institutions. We will also collaborate closely with Bulgaria in the spirit of Team Europe.
“We have more partners at the African level since vaccine manufacturing is a Team Europe endeavor with Africa on a continental level. The minister also told me that you wanted to establish a biomedical institute in the nation’s capital, and we could investigate that and connect it to research—possibly even research on vaccinations.
Isopi continued by saying that the EU was working on a number of smaller projects in Nigeria on digital health and public health organizations. Amb. Yanko Yordanov, the Bulgarian ambassador to Nigeria, stated that upon his arrival three years prior, his goal was to shift from conducting business as usual to serving as a strategic partner of Nigeria.