Nigeria and People’s Republic of China have canvassed more global collaboration, including sustained bilateral cooperation, to address challenges posed by evolving disease pandemic.
As part of strategies to secure public health globally, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, said there was need for sustained investment in pandemic preparedness.
Pate warned that future global health crises were inevitable and required proactive measures rather than reactive responses.
Speaking on Monday in Abuja at a high-level public health symposium on pandemic preparedness and response, with insights from China and Nigeria, Pate said infectious diseases posed constant threat to public health, citing recent scientific findings in Nigeria that revealed exposure to multiple deadly pathogens, including influenza, Ebola, and coronaviruses.
“That brought home the risk that we constantly face,” he said, stressing the strong link between human health, the environment, and animal populations.
The minister stated that pandemics did not just happen, but they evolved from one outbreak into epidemics and eventually global crisis if left unchecked.
“Pandemics do not start overnight, they start from an outbreak and grow until they cover the entire world,” he stated.
He said, historically, from the Spanish flu to COVID-19, infectious diseases had been known to disrupt human activities.
Pate said pandemics did not only constitute major public health concerns but also economic and national security issues.
He stated, “It is not just a purely public health issue, it is an economic security issue and also a national security issue,” pointing to the massive global economic losses during COVID-19 and the disruption of economic activities in Nigeria during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Regarding the significant role played by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in coordinating national responses, Pate said such efforts at “preparedness must be continuous, must be proactive, and that we must invest in it”.
He also underscored the importance of community trust, local manufacturing of medical supplies, and the protection of frontline health workers.
According to him, “Frontline health workers are the lifeblood of a response.”
Pate revealed that nearly 79,000 health workers had been retrained in recent years to strengthen emergency response capacity.
He advocated strengthening of research, innovation, and digital health systems, stating that Nigeria must transition from being a consumer of global health knowledge to a contributor.
Earlier, in his welcome remarks, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said, “Pandemics are one of the most disruptive and most brutal killers in human history, which the world must always be prepared for.”
Salako stressed that the next global outbreak is “not if but when”.
Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed over seven million lives globally, the minister stated that the crisis exposed deep weaknesses in health systems worldwide.
He said both Nigeria and China offered valuable lessons for the world in managing future health emergencies.
“Our two countries therefore have a lot to learn from each other and to teach the world,” he said.
He urged stronger collaboration, investment in surveillance systems, and a whole-of-society approach to pandemic preparedness to ensure no country was left behind in future responses.
Equally speaking at the event, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, called for stronger bilateral cooperation to address evolving global health challenges.
Dunhai said, “The threat of infectious disease remains complex and severe,” with rising risks from virus mutations and cross-border transmission.
The ambassador highlighted the importance of strengthening partnerships between developing countries, stating that China is committed to supporting Nigeria’s health sector.
He stated, “China attaches great importance to cooperation with Nigeria in the public health sector and stands ready to work together.”
He emphasised the principles of mutual benefit and shared progress.
Dunhai highlighted the growing strategic relationship between both countries, stating that enhanced collaboration in health and scientific innovation would improve preparedness and response capacity.
“Strengthening practical cooperation carries both immediate and long-term significance,” he added, reaffirming China’s commitment to global health cooperation and support for multilateral efforts.
The World Health Organisation’s Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Pavel Ursu, underscored the importance of global solidarity, saying no nation can tackle pandemics alone.
Ursu stressed, “No country, regardless of its strengths, can face global health threats alone.”
He said pathogens often spread faster than policies and systems designed to contain them.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, represented by Minister of State, Aliyu Sabi, alongside Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, and Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, represented by Dr. Bahidjatu Abubakar, all reaffirmed the importance of early preparedness, cross-sector collaboration, and sustained investment in preventing future pandemics.
The ministers emphasised the need for stronger collaboration with global partners, including China, as well as community engagement and integrated surveillance systems, stating that safeguarding ecosystems and strengthening inter-ministerial coordination are essential to building a resilient and pandemic-ready Nigeria.
They also said there was need for proactive planning, especially as global health threats continued to evolve amid environmental and socio-economic pressures.
They stressed the need for a strengthened One Health approach, highlighting the strong link between human, animal, and environmental health in preventing disease outbreaks.
While the agriculture minister highlighted ongoing efforts to improve food systems and plant health surveillance, his counterpart in the livestock ministry underscored the growing threat of zoonotic diseases, warning that “we cannot secure human populations without first securing our animal populations”.
The environment minister said pandemics were deeply rooted in ecological systems, adding that greater investment in environmental protection, surveillance, and climate-sensitive health strategies will be needed.
Onyebuchi Ezigbo
