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The Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN) has expressed concerns over the impact of the USAID funding cut on HIV research in Nigeria, noting that the funding cut has significantly slowed down research work, particularly in the development of HIV treatments and vaccines.
The Executive Director of the International Research Centre of Excellence (IRCE), Prof. Alash’le Abimiku, while speaking at the IHVN’s Press Briefing ahead of its 3rd Annual Scientific Symposium on Wednesday in Abuja, explained that IRCE was funded by USAID to work on HIV vaccines, adding that it’s one of the grants that have been stopped.
The pre-symposium briefing provided key insights into the theme of this year’s symposium, expected outcomes, and its significance for advancing health research and strengthening health systems in Nigeria and beyond.
While speaking further, Prof. Abimiku said, despite the funding cut, the research work has not come to a halt.
She said, “The fact that we are not being funded by the US government right now doesn’t stop our research work. We want to be ready when they say, okay, here’s a plan to go and test it in people.” She said.
The professor also explained that the research team has continued to work on sequencing the viruses that are circulating in Nigeria.
“One of our research staff just came back from Cape Town, University of Cape Town, because we are collaborating with them. We’ve been sequencing the viruses that we have in Nigeria, and what we’re saying is the viruses that are circulating here are different from the one in South Africa, it’s different from the one in Kenya.”
Prof. Abimiku noted that the lack of funding has slowed down the research work, but the team is determined to continue. “It’s been slowed down a little bit, but until we see the end of the HIV outbreak or pandemic or epidemic, we cannot stop. We’ve continued to work, but now focusing on the viruses that are circulating here.”
In addition to HIV vaccine research, Prof. Abimiku revealed that the team is working on testing Lassa vaccines.
“We’re very excited because lots of viruses are problematic for that area. And right now, we’re working with two groups for the potential of testing Lassa vaccines in our group and see whether we can identify a vaccine that is effective against Lassa.”
The professor emphasised the importance of continued research and funding, saying, “As researchers, we have to continue to do it in the background. This has been slowed down a little bit because of the funding, but we continue to do it.”
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of IHVN, Dr. Patrick Dakum, said the institute has been working closely with the government to inform policy and improve public health outcomes through research.
According to him, the institute’s research focus is on virus threats to public health, particularly in the context of outbreaks and pandemics.
“We’re focusing on virus threats to our public health because anytime we have challenges within the country, you hear about COVID, you hear about diphtheria, you hear about Lassa fever, and you hear about all these outbreaks.”
“So, unless we come together and understand what research we’re doing on viruses, and what is it that puts us at risk to really have these outbreaks over and over again.”
Dakum explained that the institute’s research involves studying the microorganisms, virus systems, and cells to understand their patterns and how they change.
“We look to our public health partners and the government to see whether we have the right policies and the right infrastructure to make sure that we can address those outbreaks.”
The IHVN CEO also pointed out that collaboration with the government is a key aspect of the institute’s work, particularly in informing policy.
“Whenever we’re coming up with any research protocol, right from the onset of formulating what that research question is, we consult with the government.”
“We involve policy makers in the research process, from formulation to dissemination of results, because if you don’t inform policy, you won’t be able to scale it up to other sites.”
Dakum cited an example of the institute’s research on HIV services, which informed the policy of decentralising HIV services from secondary institutions to the community level.
“The research provided us with the answer that you get the same care if you do it both at the primary level using other non-physician health care workers,” he said.
The IHVN CEO also noted that community involvement is a crucial part of the institute’s research, including community advisory boards and ethical clearance.
“The community includes policy makers for the purpose of them saying, look, we’re good about this in the way that is right. And remember that for research, you also have to get what we call ethical clearance, which is domiciled principally with the National Health Research Ethics Committee.”
Dakum underscored the importance of the institute’s partnership with the government, saying that it enables the institute to make a meaningful impact on public health policy.
“The ministry and government have a number of stakeholders, meetings, and technical working groups that the Institute of Human Virology is part and parcel of. If you look at a number of the research that we do, there are co-investigators in the ministry that are involved.”
The Chief Operating Officer of IHVN, Dr. Charles Olalekan Mensah, reiterated that the institute remains committed to advocating for increased funding for scientific research.
Despite challenges in securing funding, Mensah expressed hope that the situation will improve, enabling the institute to continue its critical work.
“We are not giving up on the government, we are still engaging and we are hopeful that at some point you will recommend zooming the funding of particularly scientific research because it’s vital to implementing the right medical strategy.”
“What informs the medical strategy is what the scientists bring out on their research. So if we don’t have this, we can’t get that.”
Mensah also spoke about the institute’s efforts to promote research integrity in Nigeria. “We are supporting the country in trying to institute what we call a research integrity country,” he said.
“The Minister of Health and the Minister of Education are all involved. In fact, recently, just about a few months ago, we hosted a conference here on research integrity. A lot of local institutions and international institutions participated.”
The IHVN Chief Operating Officer noted that the institute is working to communicate the outcomes of the conference to leaders of academia across the country.
“We are currently going around to communicate from that conference to leaders of our academia,” he said. “For example, we were last week in Jos, and towards the end of the month, we are going to be in Port Harcourt.”
Mensah stressed the importance of collaboration in research, saying that good research is not done in isolation. “Whatever research you do, you have to have other people scrutinise it. Your colleagues and be able to say, yeah, we were able to reproduce your research. It was good.”
The IHVN Chief Operating Officer also emphasised the need for international standards in research, particularly when collaborating with international partners.
“If they are participating in our research, it must be an international standard. Our results must be scrutinised by collaborators all over the world.”
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