Lara Adejoro
The Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, has announced plans to establish a learning and development centre to offer certified courses on HIV management and public health.
The Chief Executive Director of IHVN, Patrick Dakum, announced this initiative on Wednesday in Abuja at a press briefing commemorating the institute’s 20th anniversary.
The initiative aims to build a sustainable framework for improving Nigeria’s response to public health challenges.
Dakum said, “Apart from all that has been done so far, we are looking forward to leading the pathway in establishing a centre for learning and development that will transform some of these short-term training programmes into long-term ones. We want to create a centre where we can partner with universities, both locally and overseas.
“We offer short training courses, and we want to institutionalise 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 will work with the treatment centres to do that. Why can’t we now host a diploma in a course that we believe 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 will host and participate in such programmes. We believe we have enough facilities to do even better.
“In terms of theory, these are the things we will be doing there, offering certified courses. All these initiatives will be done in partnership. When we are ready to issue certificates, we will work with the relevant government agencies to do that. But for now, we are still at the development stage.”
The CEO expressed optimism that the physical structure of the centre would be completed within the next two years.
The Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Institute, Dr Olalekan Mensah, noted that while the government has supported research funding, there is a need for increased financial resources.
“We provide services for patients in clinics and hospitals owned by the government, whether at the state, local, or federal level, and these institutions have some basic funding to provide the infrastructure that facilitates our organisation.
“The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research is primarily funded by the federal government, and when we talk about research funding, most of our teaching hospitals and universities are all research institutions funded to carry out these activities. Could we do more? Yes. We definitely want more, and the government is becoming more engaged,” he said.
On her part, the Executive Director of the International Research Centre of Excellence, Prof Alash’le Abimiku, emphasised the institute’s role in participating in efforts to identify an effective HIV vaccine, which is essential for ending the pandemic.
Abimiku highlighted that the HIV strains present in Nigeria differ from those in Eastern and Southern Africa, underscoring the importance of localised research efforts.
“We are, for the first time, the only country in West Africa participating in efforts to identify an effective HIV vaccine, because we cannot end the pandemic without vaccines. We can manage well with drugs, but after a while, individuals face many challenges in terms of long-term drug adherence.
“This is absolutely important for HIV and for contributing to the research required to identify a vaccine that works for Nigeria and the whole of West Africa.
“We know the HIV virus present in Eastern and Southern Africa is very different from the strains we have here. For the last 30 years, research has been ongoing without considering our specific context. IHVN has put Nigeria and West Africa on the map. These are the contributions that IHVN is making to ensure that Nigeria is represented on the global stage,” she stated.
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