The ministry of health has received over 1,000,000 pentavalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (Men5CV).

A statement on Friday said the vaccines were sent from the Gavi-funded global stockpile to combat the meningitis outbreak in northern Nigeria.

The disease has already claimed over 70 lives, with more than 800 cases across 23 states.

Gavi funds the global stockpiles of vaccines against cholera, ebola, meningitis and yellow fever, which are accessible to all countries in the world.

The organisation also supports the cost of procurement, delivery and outbreak response campaigns in lower-income countries, as well as preventive and routine immunisation activities where needed.

Use of the stockpiles for outbreak response is managed by the international coordinating group (ICG) on vaccine provision, and doses are delivered to countries by UNICEF.

The ICG approved the deployment of over 1.5 million doses of Men5CV in response to Nigeria’s request in March 2025.

The first shipment will enable the launch of an outbreak response campaign targeting individuals aged 1 to 29.

The campaign will initially launch in Kebbi state and Sokoto state, with plans to expand to Yobe state as additional doses arrive in the country.

Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health & social welfare, said the arrival of the Men5CV vaccines is a crucial milestone in Nigeria’s response to the current meningitis outbreak.

He added that it reflects the government’s commitment to protect the health and well-being of all Nigerians.

“Through the Nigeria health sector renewal investment initiative and the sector-wide approach, we have prioritised epidemic preparedness and rapid response as part of our broader health security agenda. We are grateful for the support of Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF in enabling this swift deployment,” he said.

“Together, we are not only containing today’s outbreak but also laying the foundation to eliminate meningitis and strengthen routine immunization for the future.”

On his part, Francisco Luquero, Gavi’s head of high-impact outbreaks, said with the organisation’s support, vaccines successfully eliminated meningitis A from Africa’s “meningitis belt”.

“Continued investment in this work is critical to protect the incredible progress made so far, control future outbreaks, and dramatically reduce the devastating impact that seasonal epidemics of meningitis have on families and communities,” he said.

Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Nigeria country representative, said every child deserves protection from life-threatening diseases like meningitis.

Munduate added that the arrival of the meningitis vaccine marks a critical step in stopping the current outbreak and safeguarding Nigeria’s most vulnerable populations.

“UNICEF is proud to support the government by ensuring rapid vaccine deployment, community engagement, and planning and implementation of the response, while working alongside Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, National Primary Health Care Development Agency and Federal Ministry of Health and social welfare to strengthen immunisation efforts in Nigeria,” Munduate said.

Pharmaceutical companies across the world have appealed to the Federal Government to relax the law guiding the setting up of industries in Nigeria.

The pharmaceutical companies wanted the federal government to grant them opportunities to set up manufacturing facilities in Nigeria in order to deepen their market penetration in the pharmaceutical/healthcare sector.

The, firms who are currently exhibitors in Nigeria, also called on the Federal Government to remove the hurdles put on the way by some of its regulatory agencies like National Administration for Food Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

The appeal was made by pharmaceutical companies present at the Pharma West Africa Exhibition, which is the West Africa’s largest trade event dedicated to improving access to quality medicines.

The exhibition, which was organised by Trade Show Organisation of Nigeria from March 18 to 20 2025, was held at Landmark Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, and attended by exhibitors from over 50 countries around the world.

According to Mr. Simranjit Singh Gandhi, the founder and director of Aprazer Healthcare Private Limited in India, he said this was their first time of being at the event. He, however, promised to have a discussion with the Nigerian regulatory agencies in order to make available their products in the country.

“This is our first time in Lagos, Nigeria, and it is great,” he said.

“We have some businesses to seal but we want people to see the big opportunities in this Pharma West Africa because this is a very big event.

“This is a great opportunity because Nigeria is a great market, to be honest. We are here to have discussions with NAFDAC, have discussions with business associates so that our products can be available in Nigeria in a legitimate manner.

“We want to be part of the Nigerian market and make sure our products are here to help the country in areas needed,” he said.

Gandhi further disclosed that they saw an opportunity from Pharma West Africa to participate in the exhibition.

According to Gandhi, “This is a very big event. Nigeria is a very big market. We discovered that there are a lot of areas that have not been explored. So, we are here to meet business associates in order for our products to be known in Nigeria in a legitimate manner and to provide pharmaceutical products to Nigerians at affordable price. We will continue to attend the exhibition, and we will always support the event and partner the organisers. “

Also speaking, Victor Chinedum, the Vice President (Commercial and Branding), PureLife Health, whose company came up with a platform to help connect the people with healthcare experts, said the innovation would help to integrate various aspects of primary healthcare, including health and wellness products, vaccinations, diagnostics, specialist consultations, and medication delivery.

He said; “We are utilising technology to address hitherto difficult medical processes. We are serving as a platform for all primary healthcare activities, from medical doctors to diagnostics, to pharmacists and we are making sure that individuals that have access to this app can have access to all these primary healthcare drivers on one platform.

“We are here at Pharma West Africa because it is one of the largest gatherings of pharmaceutical stakeholders and this is a veritable platform to connect with business owners, to companies. We feel that if we want to make it easier for people to access their health, why can’t we create a general platform whereby they would have access to all these things at a go and so this is good because at the comfort of your home, you can list orders. At the comfort of your home, you can see the doctor, run diagnoses and get prescriptions.

“This is because four out of every ten Nigerians do not completely care for their health, so we saw all these loopholes and decided to make healthcare accessibility easy for them by coming up with this,” he said.

On his own, Mr Kausher Nayabali of KNA, a group of companies, spoke on their mission in Lagos for the Pharma West Africa.

“We are into many sectors like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, FMCG appliances. It is about a 100 years old company. We are in Nigeria for exhibition with our products and we want to offer these products to Nigerian people at an affordable price.

“We are enjoying our presence here and hope to be here for second time. We are looking to discuss with big importers and we can also produce our products right here. Because of logistics, we at times have issues bringing our products here but we can produce them here. We have been dominating the market for the past 15 years and we want to do the same in Nigeria.

“If we have good support from Nigeria, we can do more. Nigeria is one of the strongest economies in Africa with a big population, so we can help Nigerians to get good quality products at reasonable prices.”

Speaking on the exhibition, Kieran Westlake, the Exhibition Manager for Pharma West Africa, said the idea behind the event which began in 2024, is to create a platform for exhibitors to meet and network as local and foreign companies in pharmaceutical business.

According to Westlake, so far, Pharma West Africa is meeting the objective following the success of the event.

Jamie Hill, Founder and Managing Director of Trade Show Organisers of Nigeria, said in his opening remarks at the opening of the three days exhibition that: “We are delighted to be hosting Pharma West Africa again after having such positive feedback from the launch event in 2024.