Co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, has called on the Federal and State government to improve their budget for healthcare, lamenting that only $10 is spent on each Nigerian annually.
Gates, who spoke yesterday at the Youth Innovation Forum in Lagos, said Nigeria is full of talented people with a lot of potential but it will be difficult to fulfil that potential if there is no access to the most basic building blocks of life.
“It may not surprise you that Nigeria’s state and federal governments only spend the equivalent of $10 per person on health each year, compared to $31 in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Leaders need to make a much bigger financial commitment, focused most of all on improving primary health systems.
- Why CBN asked banks to obtain customers’ social handles
- I won’t have removed fuel subsidy without palliatives — Obi
“Making sure clinics are well-staffed and supplied, making sure children get the vaccines they need—all of this is absolutely essential to improving health and opportunity and unlocking all of Nigeria’s potential,” he said.
The business magnate and philanthropist noted that he has faith in Nigerian youths to make a difference in the country and beyond because of the unprecedented potential of new technologies.
“When it comes to making the world a better place, talented young people are a powerful asset.
“Nigeria has one of the biggest youth populations in the world, and it’s growing fast. That represents a lot of potential skills and passion to solve big problems,” he said while acknowledging some of the breakthroughs made by Nigerians in the field of science, medicine and creative industries among others.
However, he called on the government and other stakeholders to ensure equitable access to opportunities and innovations, noting that Nigerians living in urban areas are twice as likely to make digital payments as those in rural areas.
“There are equity gaps like this to close in health and education too. A mother’s chance of surviving childbirth, and her baby’s chance of thriving in childhood, has a lot to do with the luck of where they’re born.
“In some Nigerian states, most women give birth in a place where they have the help of skilled birth assistants. But in other states, 90 percent of women deliver at home, where they may not get life-saving care,” he added.
He said the gender gap in labour force participation has nearly doubled in the last decade, stressing that in some states, nearly 9 in 10 women have no education at all.
