NIGERIA BENEFITS FROM UK £210 MILLION FUNDING TO TACKLE ABTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE……….
By: Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
Nigeria to benefit from UK Government’s £210 million of funding to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
A statement by the British High Commission in Abuja says the funding is the Largest investment in global Antimicrobial Resistance AMR, surveillance by any country and sees the launch of the second phase of the Fleming Fund’s fight against AMR.
It says the Announcement comes as the UK’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay travels to India for his first G20 Health Ministers’ meeting.
The statement explains that State-of-the-art laboratories, cutting-edge disease surveillance systems, and a bigger global workforce to tackle deadly antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will be backed by up to £210 million of funding from the UK government.
The funding from the government’s UK aid budget will support the Fleming Fund’s activities to tackle AMR in countries across Asia and Africa over the next three years, helping to reduce the threat it poses to the UK and globally.
It says the funding will also bolster the surveillance capacity in up to 25 countries where the threat and burden of AMR is highest including Nigeria, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya, and Papua New Guinea with more than 250 laboratories set to be upgraded and provided with state-of-the-art equipment.
The investment will also strengthen the international health workforce by supporting 20,000 training sessions for laboratory staff, pharmacists and hospital staff, and over 200 Fleming Fund scholarships to boost expertise in microbiology, AMR policy and One Health – which recognises the connection between humans, animals and the environment.