SOME Nigerians, with a wrong intent to mock, believe that sick people, especially those living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Africa, particularly Nigeria, are now an “endangered species” due to the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
In 2001, the Abuja Declaration was signed by African leaders with the promise to increase budgetary allocation for health, eradicate HIV/AIDS, and strengthen the health sector through improved infrastructure, human resources, and access to essential medicines.
Two decades later, we are crying over a single nation’s withdrawal from WHO because we have failed to fulfill promises we made to ourselves. What happens if other “powerful” countries decide to quit? Will our already poor health indices worsen? This should be a wake-up call.
All hope is not lost, as some progress has been made. In Nigeria, there was a breakthrough in November 2024. Doctors at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), in collaboration with the Sickle Cell Foundation, successfully carried out a bone marrow transplant on two patients. This procedure, once thought impossible in Nigeria, was described as “a significant step forward in the treatment of sickle cell disease—the first of its kind in West Africa.”
Also, in February 2025, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) joined the ranks of medical facilities that have successfully performed kidney transplants.
Nigeria can capitalize on and refine these developments, attracting patients from other regions for treatment. This influx will generate revenue and possibly elevate us to a level where we no longer rely on funding from external organizations.
Nigeria and other African nations can build on their existing resources to generate revenue while investing further in research to discover cures or treatments for diseases that we have traditionally relied on palliatives for.
—Lawal Dahiru Mamman writes from Abuja and can be reached at [email protected].
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