TY Danjuma Foundation: $2.26m WHO Grant for Nigeria Health
The TY Danjuma Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO) are embarking on a crucial, decade-long mission to transform Nigeria’s healthcare landscape.They’ve invested $2.26 million to bolster Nigeria health financing and amplify primary healthcare initiatives across the nation. This important partnership will focus on enhancing maternal and child health services, as well as building resilient health systems. The collaboration comes amid global financial concerns, pushing for locally driven solutions and domestic resource mobilization.General Theophilus Danjuma emphasized the need for African-led strategies, making this a critical step toward global health coverage. For up-to-the-minute updates on this and other impactful initiatives, turn to News Directory 3. Explore how this strategic partnership will impact on-the-ground outcomes.
TY Danjuma foundation, WHO Partner to Strengthen nigeria Health Financing
Updated June 4, 2025
The TY Danjuma Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched a 10-year strategic partnership to improve health systems resilience and sustainable health financing in Nigeria. The collaboration will focus on primary healthcare, maternal and child health across the country.
The Foundation is providing $2.26 million to the WHO Nigeria Country Office through december 2034. This investment in Nigeria health financing comes amid global concerns about funding stability, particularly after shifts like the U.S. withdrawal from WHO funding.
At a signing ceremony in Abuja, stakeholders from Nigeria’s public health and philanthropic sectors gathered to mark the occasion.
Gen. theophilus Danjuma, founder of the TY Danjuma Foundation, cited global funding uncertainties as a key reason for partnering with WHO, emphasizing the need for African solutions. “The reason I partnered WHO is Trump,” Danjuma said, referencing funding cuts. “Even before he became second-term President, he accused the WHO of all sorts of things, and he cut off funding.”
Danjuma urged Nigerians to embrace philanthropy, adding, “Nobody is too poor to give. You can give your time, money, and other talents. We must teach young people the spirit of giving.”
WHO Country Representative to Nigeria, Dr. walter Mulombo, hailed the partnership as a historic step toward locally-driven health funding and a model for domestic resource mobilization.”this collaboration with TY Danjuma Foundation is not just about money,” Mulombo stated. “It is indeed about enabling WHO to work flexibly and adapt to evolving health challenges while aligning with nigeria’s national health priorities.”
Dr.Chikwe Ihekweazu, acting director-general for WHO Africa, emphasized the timeliness of the flexible funding model. “This is deeply supportive of African-led solutions to African challenges,” he said. “At a time when the global health sector is under financial pressure, such long-term support could not have come at a better time.”
Dr. Godwin Ntadom,representing the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social welfare,Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, noted the partnership aligns with government goals for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Advancement Goals (SDGs). He said the focus on primary healthcare, especially for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health and nutrition, would improve health equity.
Ntadom added, “This partnership complements government efforts to improve access and quality across the healthcare value chain.”
What’s next
The TY Danjuma Foundation and WHO collaboration is expected to significantly contribute to long-term health security in Nigeria, improving life expectancy and reducing preventable diseases as the nation strives for universal health access.