Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) have signed a five-year bilateral health Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s health system.
The agreement signed by the U.S. Department of State and the Federal Government, has a strong focus on expanding faith-based healthcare delivery and provides for a combined investment of about $5.1 billion in the period covered by the MoU.
Of this amount, the U.S. plans to commit almost $2.1 billion, while Nigeria will increase its domestic health spending by about $3 billion, the largest co-investment recorded so far under the America First Global Health Strategy.
Announcing the pact in a statement at the weekend, the U.S. Principal Deputy spokesperson, Thomas Pigott, said the funding would be directed at expanding essential preventive and curative services, including HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, and polio interventions.
According to the statement, a significant component of the MoU is dedicated to strengthening Christian faith-based healthcare providers across Nigeria.
The agreement was negotiated alongside reforms by the Nigerian government to prioritise the protection of Christian populations from violence, with targeted funding to support faith-based clinics and hospitals.
Under the MoU, the U.S. will continue to support surveillance and outbreak response, laboratory systems, health commodities; frontline healthcare workers, and data systems.
The statement also claimed that Nigeria faces significant health challenges, including one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates globally and approximately 30 percent of the global malaria burden.
Therefore, U.S. assistance under the MoU will expand access to affordable, preventive and curative services for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, polio, and maternal and child health, strengthening health outcomes across Nigeria.
Read Also: Iyewo Healthcare launches pop up clinic for traders, others
The MoU places a strong emphasis on Christian faith-based healthcare providers, recognising their indispensable role in delivering care to communities in need.
Nigeria’s more than 900 faith-based clinics and hospitals serve more than 30 per cent of the estimated 230 million population, often in areas where healthcare facilities are limited or absent.
The MoU provides approximately $200 million in dedicated support to strengthen and support these Christian facilities, enhance workforce capacity, and expand access to integrated HIV, TB, malaria, and maternal child health services.
The MoU was negotiated in connection with reforms undertaken by Nigeria to prioritise the protection of Christian populations from extremist violence.
As with all U.S. foreign assistance, the President and Secretary of State retain the right to pause or terminate programmes that do not align with U.S. national interests, and the United States expects Nigeria to continue making measurable progress in combating religiously motivated violence against Christian communities.
This five-year MoU is the latest of several health cooperation agreements signed in Africa this month.