By Mercy Gadia
The Federal Government on Monday warned that future pandemics are inevitable, calling for sustained investment in preparedness as Nigeria deepens collaboration with China to strengthen its public health system.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, gave the assertion at a high-level public health symposium on pandemic preparedness and response, where officials from both countries shared lessons from past disease outbreaks.
Pate said recent scientific findings in Nigeria had revealed exposure to multiple deadly pathogens, including influenza, Ebola and coronaviruses, underscoring the persistent risks facing the country.
“That brought home the risk that we constantly face,” he said, adding, “It is not a matter of if, but when.”
He explained that pandemics do not occur suddenly but evolve from outbreaks into epidemics before spreading globally if not contained early.
“Pandemics do not start overnight; they start from an outbreak and grow until they cover the entire world,” Pate said, noting that history—from the Spanish flu to COVID-19—had shown how infectious diseases could disrupt human civilisation.
The minister described pandemics as not only public health challenges but also economic and national security threats, recalling the massive global losses recorded during COVID-19 and the disruption caused by the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria.
He stressed the need for sustained investment in resilient health systems, strong institutions and a well-trained workforce, revealing that nearly 79,000 health workers had been retrained to boost emergency response capacity.
Pate also highlighted the importance of community trust, local manufacturing of medical supplies, and stronger research and innovation, urging Nigeria to transition from being a consumer of global health knowledge to a contributor.
At the symposium themed “Lessons on Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Insights from China and Nigeria,” officials from both countries emphasised the need for closer collaboration, data sharing and a multi-sectoral approach to tackling emerging infectious diseases.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, described pandemics as among the most disruptive and deadly events in human history, noting that COVID-19 exposed deep weaknesses in health systems globally.
“Diagnosis is a key element. If you cannot identify the problem, you cannot address it,” he said, stressing the need to strengthen Nigeria’s diagnostic capacity through partnerships.
The World Health Organisation Country Representative in Nigeria, Pavel Ursu, underscored the importance of global solidarity, warning that no country could tackle pandemics alone.
“Pathogens often spread faster than the systems designed to contain them,” he said, adding that early detection, transparent data sharing and strong surveillance systems were critical to reducing the impact of outbreaks.
Also speaking, Chinese public health expert, George Gao, stressed the importance of global data sharing in combating infectious diseases.
“If we don’t share the data, the viruses will share the data,” Gao warned.
The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, called for stronger bilateral cooperation, noting that the threat of infectious diseases remained complex due to virus mutations and cross-border transmission.
In their separate remarks, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal; the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari; and the Minister of Livestock Development emphasised the need for a One Health approach that integrates human, animal and environmental health.
They stressed that early preparedness, improved surveillance and sustained investment are critical to building a pandemic-ready Nigeria and ensuring that no country is left behind in future global health responses.