Nigeria, seven other countries begin African-led HIV vaccine development

Nigeria and seven other African countries have begun a project to check HIV in the continent.

Alash’le Abimiku, the executive director of the International Research Centre of Excellence, Institute of Human Virology (IHVN), disclosed this at a press briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

The theme of the briefing was “HIV Vaccine, Innovation, Science, and Technology Acceleration in Africa (HIV-VISTA) study.”

Ms Abimiku said the countries involved were Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, and Mozambique.

She said the consortium’s objective is to evaluate HIV vaccine candidates emanating from the continent.

Ms Abiku added that the initiative was to harness and catalyse African scientists to contribute to an effective HIV vaccine.

“Through these efforts, African institutions will be encouraged to become more autonomous, generate domestic resource support, and form partnerships with the private sector.

“It will possibly create a more sustainable system for HIV vaccine research and development, which is progressively and inordinately dependent on the U.S government,” she said.

She expressed optimism that the partnership will acknowledge the potential of great Innovation and science from Africa to solve global health challenges, especially those that disproportionally devastate the continent.

Temitope Ilori, the director-general of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), said HIV persisted despite efforts to control it, hence the need for new tools for prevention.

“The BRILLIANT study offers hope for a vaccine tailored to the needs of our population, and Nigeria’s involvement in this global initiative is critical.

“Our participation supports both local and international efforts to end AIDS and brings us closer to a vaccine that could save countless lives across Africa and beyond,” she said.

She said the BRILLIANT study exemplified the strength of global collaboration and scientific progress.

Ezekiel James, the deputy director of the office of HIV/TB from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the study offered an opportunity for stakeholders to combine efforts to achieve HIV epidemic control.

Similarly, Leo Zekeng, UNAIDS country director, stressed the need to engage the community to create awareness of HIV vaccines and similar research that continues to break HIV transmission rates.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had, on Tuesday, named HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and 14 other pathogens as top priorities for new vaccine development.

Also, according to UNAIDS, an estimated 39.9 million people are living with HIV across the globe in 2023, with an estimated 1.3 million new infections.

Africa has about 25.9 million (65 per cent) of the global burden, with Nigeria contributing about 1.9 million, making it the fourth largest HIV burden country globally.

The USAID awarded more than 45 million dollars to the BRILLIANT consortium through a competitive process to implement a cooperative agreement under the BRILLIANT project.

(NAN)