Co-chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has explained w<span;>hy he visited President Bola Tinubu with President of Aliko Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote, at the Presidential Villa on Monday.
Gates spoke at an event with the theme: ‘<span;>Advancing Africa: Unleashing the power of youth in science and innovation.’ The hybrid in-person and online event was co-hosted by the Lagos Business School and Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), in partnership with Africa.com and Channels Television.
Gates said: “I had a chance to meet with the newly elected president (Tinubu), and to encourage him that as resources are being allocated, to keep the challenges of equity in mind, we really do need to drive access to the key building blocks for example; in the health sector where there is a limited budget, you cannot run a good primary health care system, you can’t get vaccines.
“Our foundation is excited to be here and ready to work with incredible local partners. We’ve done a lot on malaria eradication, polio eradication.
He, however, lamented that there are the most dramatic gaps in health and education.
Gates noted that in a few states across Nigeria, there is access to high-health care but for many other states women give birth at home, and if there are challenges, they don’t have access to life-saving care.
He said: “If you look across the country, mothers chances of surviving childbirth or chances of a child growing up healthy it varies. Nigeria has one of the biggest young populations in the world. AI will be used to design malaria drugs.”
Gates further explained how Prof. Bosede Afolabi, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Lagos, is working on challenge of anemia in pregnant women, noting that the condition that has not gotten enough attention in the medical community”
