The African Union (AU) has appointed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership.
Tinubu’s appointment at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) holding in Addis Ababa came against the backdrop of his ambitious, innovative and people-focused efforts in the sector in Nigeria.
Specifically, the recognition stems from President Tinubu’s commitment to train 120,000 frontline health workers nationwide within 16 months and to double the number of primary health facilities in communities across all local councils of the federation from 8,800 to over 17,000 over the next three years.
Other considerations include his doubling of health personnel enrollment capacity from accredited nursing and midwifery institutions to accommodate the new demand created by new facilities across Nigeria, and his resolve to establish a paid volunteer youth force of social accountability officers to monitor the operational functioning and financial integrity of primary health centres.
The Commission of the African Union (Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention—Africa CDC), in a letter to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said President Tinubu was appointed on the recommendation of the Committee of Heads of State and Government of Africa CDC, under the leadership of His Excellency, President Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union.
In his new role, the Commission subsequently invited President Tinubu to address the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme (MELP) under the theme, ‘Impactful Leadership in Health: A Whole Government Approach’, billed for today at the Africa CDC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the margins of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Government.
The Tinubu administration has begun to attract global investments in Nigeria’s health sector for the provision of cutting-edge infrastructure, equipment and world-class manpower for improved access to quality healthcare by all Nigerians.
Fielding questions from newsmen after the AU decision in Addis Ababa, Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, explained that the new role entails that the Nigerian President will champion the recruitment, the retention and the remuneration for community health workers.
“As you know, these are people that work on the frontline in our primary care centres. And this is part of a new agenda and Nigeria agenda to meet a universal economic target.
“And the President is working to ensure Nigeria meets its goal of universal coverage for every single citizen of the country, as he always will say, ‘every single Nigerian deserves meaningful and comprehensive care’,” Alausa added.
