By Onwe Wisdom, Pan Afric Reporters
The Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate has enjoined researchers and the Nigeria to urgently strengthen its capacity to translate scientific research into practical healthcare solutions to effectively address emerging health, economic and demographic challenges.
The minister made the call on Monday in Abuja while declaring open the 2026 SPARK Africa Translational Research Bootcamp and Scientific Conference, an initiative designed to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and real-world healthcare impact across Africa.
The minister noted, scientific inquiry remains the bedrock of human progress, stressing that evidence-based research is essential for improving life expectancy, combating disease and responding to global disruptions such as pandemics.
“Science and scientific inquiry are fundamental to the advancement of human societies. The gains humanity has made over centuries, from improved life expectancy to medical breakthroughs, have come through research and the application of the scientific method,” Pate said.
He emphasized that the world was currently grappling with a “poly-crisis” overlapping health, economic, technological and political shocks, many of which were intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 was a once-in-a-century pandemic that reshaped economies, politics, supply chains and healthcare systems. We are still living with its aftershocks,” he said.
Pate further explained that Nigeria and the African continent were undergoing multiple transitions simultaneously, including demographic shifts, changing disease patterns, rapid technological advances, labour market evolution and political transformation.
“Thirty or forty years ago, infectious diseases dominated our health burden. Today, non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers and neurological conditions account for a growing share of morbidity and mortality,” he observed.
He lamented Africa’s limited contribution to global research output despite its population of over 1.4 billion people, warning that the continent risked remaining a centre of extraction rather than innovation unless domestic investment in research and development was significantly increased.
“Africa accounts for a very small share of global scientific inquiry and research funding. Unless we change this trajectory, we risk continuing a long history of extraction of people, resources, data and knowledge,” he said.
The minister commended Stanford University and Nigerian research institutions for driving the SPARK Africa initiative, describing it as a critical platform for strengthening local capacity in translational research and clinical trials.
He also outlined key pillars of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s health sector reform agenda, including governance reforms, expansion of primary healthcare, unlocking the healthcare value chain and strengthening health security through regional and global collaboration.
“You cannot pray or hope your way through healthcare development. It requires discipline, scientific inquiry and evidence-based policymaking,” Pate said, assuring participants of the Federal Government’s commitment to building a strong ecosystem for research, innovation and clinical trials.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr Obi Peter Adigwe, Director-General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), warned that science and scientists were facing unprecedented global threats, including funding cuts, misinformation and coordinated disinformation campaigns.
“Never in history has science been under this level of assault. Yet science exists to solve problems, and translational research ensures that society benefits directly from scientific knowledge,” Adigwe said.
He described Nigeria’s hosting of the conference as strategic, praising Pate as a leading advocate for science-driven policymaking and proposing him as a “Global Ambassador for Translational Research,” a motion that received unanimous support from participants.
In his special remarks, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, said Africa’s healthcare transformation depended largely on its ability to convert scientific research into real-world solutions that save lives, create jobs and drive economic growth.
Mukhtar described research and development as the foundation of sustainable healthcare manufacturing and innovation, noting that PVAC, established by President Tinubu, was central to Nigeria’s strategy to expand local production of essential healthcare products and reduce import dependence.
“At the very beginning of every healthcare value chain is research and development. You cannot meaningfully talk about manufacturing, discovery or commercialisation if you do not first get R&D right,” he said.
He lamented Africa’s marginal share of global research spending, barely two per cent and stressed the need to link research more deliberately to commercialisation and impact.
“Publishing papers is important, but ultimately, science must save lives. Research must move from the bench to the bedside,” Mukhtar said.
He disclosed that PVAC was adopting an ecosystem approach that integrates research, clinical trials, manufacturing, supply chains, market access and financing, adding that Nigeria would soon launch Africa’s first Healthcare Manufacturing Academy as part of efforts to strengthen this ecosystem.
“Our ambition is clear: to make Nigeria the hub for local manufacturing of essential medicines for Africa. But to achieve this, we must also lead in basic science research and development,” he added.
Also speaking, Prof. Kevin Grimes, Co-Director of SPARK at Stanford University and Vice President of SPARK Global, said Africa’s health and economic future depended on empowering local scientists to set research agendas and translate discoveries into products that address the continent’s unique disease burden.
Grimes described SPARK as a global model that bridges the gap between academic research and patient impact by pairing scientists with experienced industry mentors, noting that about half of SPARK-supported projects progress into clinical trials or licensed products.
“Healthcare is too important to rely on outsiders to set the research agenda. Products must be developed in Africa, by Africans, for Africans,” he said.
He highlighted the importance of pharmacogenomics and cited studies on HIV treatment, breast cancer and Parkinson’s disease to show how genetic differences in African populations had often been overlooked in global drug development.
The SPARK Africa bootcamp promises a melting point scientists, policymakers and industry leaders from across Africa and beyond to explore pathways for translating research into solutions.
