Nigeria has gained global recognition in HIV vaccine development as the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) joins seven other African countries in identifying localized HIV strains for inclusion in ongoing vaccine research.
Additionally, the Institute announced plans to establish a learning and development center offering certified courses in HIV management and public health.
The construction of the seven-floor facility is set to begin by the end of October, with completion expected within two years, IHVN Chief Executive Director, Patrick Dakum, disclosed during a media briefing in Abuja, marking the Institute’s 20th anniversary.
With Nigeria joining the African team as the first from the West African sub-region, HIV strains native to the region will now be included in clinical trials for the eventual HIV vaccine.
According to Prof. Alash’le Abimiku, Executive Director of the IHVN International Research Centre of Excellence, the institute has already begun sequencing the indigenous virus strains from West Africa, having accessed about $200,000 from the $34 million fund provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the project.
She noted that this achievement by IHVN, and by extension Nigeria, is unprecedented, as it ensures that the eventual vaccine will be more effective for the West African population.
Prof. Abimiku added that while research into an HIV vaccine has been ongoing for the past 30 years, there had previously been no focus on the specific strains present in West Africa, an oversight now being addressed by IHVN.
She said: “We, for the first time, are the only country in West Africa that is now participating to identify an effective HIV vaccine, because we can’t end the pandemic without vaccines. We can do well with the drugs, but after a while, individuals face a lot of this in terms of taking drugs long-term.
“So, this is absolutely important in terms of HIV and contribution to the research that is required to identify a vaccine that also works for Nigeria and the whole of West Africa.
“We know the virus, (HIV) that is in Eastern and Southern Africa is very different from the ones that we have here.
“For the last 30 years, research has been ongoing without considering what we have here. IHVN has put Nigeria and West Africa on the map.
“So, those are the things that IHVN is contributing to make sure that Nigeria is on the table.”
Abimiku, however, assured that by next year, once the sequencing phase is completed, the Centre will be ready to enter the clinical trials phase, positioning Nigeria for Brilliant W03, to join Kenya and Uganda in the Brilliant W01 and W02 trials.
Regarding the learning centre, CEO Dakum emphasized that the initiative aims to establish a sustainable framework for enhancing Nigeria’s response to public health challenges.
According to him, the establishment of the learning centre becomes imperative considering that since its inception in October 2004, IHVN has provided HIV testing services to more than 18 million people, life-saving antiretroviral treatment to more than 600,000 people, trained over 50,000 healthcare workers, and provided tuberculosis services to more than 300,000 individuals.
He noted that it is time to enhance IHVN’s capacity, having secured over $400 million in grants since its inception to execute various interventions and collaborated with globally renowned tertiary institutions in its area of expertise in public health.
“Apart from all that has been done so far, we are looking forward to leading the pathway in having a centre for learning and development that will now transform some of this short-term training into long-term training.
“We want to move to have a centre where we can partner with universities, both locally and overseas.
“We offer short training, and we want to institutionalize those, and make them certified. For example, why can’t we have a certificate in HIV management, both in theory and in practice? So we work with the treatment centres to do that.
“Why can’t we now host a diploma in a course that we think will contribute to the health sector?
“Why can’t we offer a Master’s degree in public health? We will not be a university, but we will be a centre that we will host, and we will also participate in doing that. And we think that we have enough facilities to even do better.
“So, in terms of theory, these are the things that we will be doing there, offering certified courses. But all these things will be done in partnership. When we think that we will register to issue certificates, we will work with the relevant government agencies to do that. But for now, we are still at the development stage.”
