The federal government has been urged to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) and increase domestic investment in health research to safeguard Nigeria’s public health system amid declining international donor funding.

Alash’le Abimiku, Executive Director of the International Research Centre of Excellence (IRCE) at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), made the call at a news conference in Abuja.

The briefing was held ahead of the fourth IRCE Annual Scientific Symposium scheduled to take place from 31 August to 1 September.

The symposium is themed “Shaping the Future of Public Health Research through Sustainable Funding, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and Innovation.”

Ms Abimiku said recent cuts in global health funding, including support from major international donors, underscored the need for Nigeria to strengthen local financing for research and build sustainable capacity.

She said stronger domestic investment would help the country address emerging health challenges and reduce its vulnerability to fluctuations in external funding.

Ms Abimiku said that many Nigerian researchers relied heavily on international grants, warning that shrinking research budgets could weaken the country’s ability to compete for funding and generate locally relevant evidence.

“We are asking government to begin investing in research. It may not be as much as international funding, but it can keep researchers productive, build capacity and sustain innovation.

“Disease outbreaks will not stop because funding has been reduced. HIV, cancer, sickle cell disease, Lassa fever and future pandemics will continue to challenge us, so we must prepare,” she said.

According to her, AI presents an opportunity to improve research productivity, accelerate data analysis and strengthen evidence-based decision-making when deployed responsibly and ethically.

She, however, cautioned researchers against over-dependence on AI, emphasising that innovation, critical thinking and scientific curiosity must remain central to the research process.

“AI can summarise years of research within seconds, but researchers must continue to ask critical questions, experiment and innovate.

“We must use AI to enhance, not replace, scientific thinking,” she said.

The symposium

Ms Abimiku explained that the symposium would explore how AI and machine learning could complement reduced research funding by improving efficiency while safeguarding data privacy and ethical standards.

She added that a pre-symposium hackathon had been introduced to expose researchers, healthcare professionals, and young innovators to practical AI tools to solve public health challenges.

According to her, the initiative is designed to bridge the gap between experienced researchers and younger professionals already familiar with emerging AI technologies.

Ms Abimiku urged policymakers, industry leaders and researchers to collaborate to develop sustainable research funding mechanisms that reduce Nigeria’s dependence on foreign support.

She cited South Africa’s model of competitive, government-funded research grants as an example of how countries could sustain scientific innovation despite reductions in international funding.

Also speaking, Sophia Osawe, head of research operations at IRCE, said the centre’s Inform Africa programme was already deploying AI and machine learning to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness for disease outbreaks.

Ms Osawe explained that the programme used big data to predict disease trends and identify communities requiring urgent interventions, including vaccine deployment during pandemics such as HIV and COVID-19.

“These AI-powered tools help the government identify where interventions are most needed so resources can be deployed more efficiently and lives protected,” she said.

Similarly, James Onyemata, head of molecular diagnostics at IRCE, emphasised Nigeria’s strategic role in regional disease surveillance and genomic monitoring.

READ ALSO: Top AI CEOs speak about regulation of artificial intelligence, challenges, opportunities

According to him, with Nigeria accounting for about half of West Africa’s population, genomic surveillance data generated in the country are essential for developing vaccines effective against circulating virus strains.

“If we do not provide this information, vaccines developed elsewhere may not adequately protect populations in West Africa because they may not target the variants circulating here,” Onyemata said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the symposium will continue with technical sessions on ethical AI, genomic surveillance, pandemic preparedness, sustainable research financing and innovations aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s public health system.

(NAN)

The Nigerian government has set a target to provide reliable electricity to at least 30 per cent of health facilities by the end of 2027, as about 40 per cent of functional Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) currently lack access to electricity.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the official launch of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA)-Renewable Asset Management Company (RAMCO).

The event was held under the theme, “Powering Sustainable Growth: Launching Nigeria’s Renewable Asset Management Company.”

Mr Salako said the electricity deficit in health facilities was undermining healthcare delivery, noting that reliable power was not merely an infrastructure requirement but a determinant of health outcomes.

“In a hospital, electricity is not an amenity; it is a clinical input,” he said.

He explained that electricity was required for critical services and equipment, including vaccine cold chains, oxygen concentrators, operating theatres and incubators for premature babies.

According to Mr Salako, between 60 and 70 per cent of Nigeria’s primary and tertiary health facilities experience frequent power outages or lack electricity altogether.

“About 40 per cent of functional PHCs have no electricity access, with most of the remaining 60 per cent receiving only six to 10 hours of electricity per day,” he said.

Hospitals spend up to 50% of their operating costs on energy
Mr Salako said the unreliable power supply was also placing a significant financial burden on teaching hospitals.

According to him, teaching hospitals require between three and eight megawatts to operate optimally but receive roughly five hours of electricity from the national grid daily.

He said this had resulted in hospitals committing between 40 and 50 per cent of their operating expenditure to energy, much of it spent on diesel.

Mr Salako acknowledged efforts by the Federal Ministry of Power and the REA to provide sustainable electricity to health facilities.

He said federal tertiary health institutions, including teaching hospitals in Maiduguri and Calabar, had benefited from the Energising Education Programme.

Under the Nigeria Electrification Project, he said 100 health facilities had also received 50 kilowatt containerised solar hybrid systems, while a second phase would target 400 PHCs.

Despite these interventions, Salako said the sustainability of renewable energy systems remained a major concern.

Steady power in 30% of facilities by 2027
Mr Salako said the 30 per cent target was part of the Nigeria Power-for-Health Initiative approved by President Bola Tinubu following the first National Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Power in the Health Sector held in September 2025.

According to him, the dialogue produced a Compact for the Sustainable Electrification of Public and Private Health Facilities, signed by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Power, sub-national governments, the Committee of CMDs/MDs, the private sector, development partners and civil society.

He said the dialogue also produced an implementation plan aimed at ensuring that at least 30 per cent of health facilities in Nigeria had a steady power supply by the end of 2027.

ALSO READ: Nigeria records 50% drop in maternal deaths in health facilities – Report

The initiative also produced a governance structure on which the REA and other government agencies sit, Mr Salako said.

He said achieving the target would require private capital and partnerships, as the government alone could not finance the scale of energy infrastructure needed across Nigeria’s health system.

RAMCO-health sector collaboration
Mr Salako proposed four areas of collaboration between RAMCO and the Nigeria Power-for-Health Initiative.

He called for health facilities to be recognised as a distinct asset class within RAMCO’s portfolio, beginning with teaching hospitals that had already been solarised under the Energising Education Programme and systems delivered to health facilities under the Nigeria Electrification Project.

He also proposed linking RAMCO’s professional asset management with the institutionalisation of Facility Energy Management Teams in hospitals, with support from UK PACT.

According to him, RAMCO’s asset register should be integrated with health facility energy audits so that both sectors can plan on a single evidence base.

He further proposed that a defined share of RAMCO’s capital be directed towards PHCs, which he described as the sites least commercially attractive but most consequential for maternal and newborn survival.

Mr Salako said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare would support RAMCO by giving it a seat on the Inter-Agency Technical Committee of the Power-for-Health Initiative.