Nigeria hopes to occupy the driver’s sit as Africa craves to make accelerated strides in finding a viable vaccine for HIV/AIDS.
This drive comes in the wake of calls from stakeholders attending the fourth African AIDS Vaccine Programme (AAVP) for Africa to take up a lead role in the search for an AIDS Vaccine.
Chairman, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) in Nigeria, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, said in an interview in Abuja that although the development of a vaccine is an expensive and strenuous venture, signs from the field of science shows that the continent and the world is up on an encouraging note.
Osotimehin said African countries must merge resources as well as partner with international organisations outside the continent if it intends to actualise the dream of producing a vaccine.
On insinuation that the solution to HIV/AIDS lies in Africa, Osotimehin said, "I probably share their optimism, but we need to invest in it for it to happen."
He is, however, not impressed with the level of scientific involvement of Nigerians, especially in high profile researches like HIV vaccines.
"Imagine the last call for nomination for science award by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company could not attract any Nigerian. We should have a lot of young Nigerians doing things in science. I think it is an area we have to look into," he said.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that Nigeria would be interested in partaking in future trials of HIV vaccine candidates as a way of adding impetus to the venture.
"We believe that if we (Nigerians) are able to do the correct advocacies to government and other organisations (in Africa), we would be able to get them to invest in it. This is one of the reasons we decided to host the fourth session of the AAVP in Nigeria to bring some level of visibility to it," said.
Osotimehin added that Nigeria has enough skills, intellectual power, drive and the charity to support Africa’s quest for HIV vaccine.
He, however pointed out that the necessary infrastructure and resources to properly situate Nigeria in the lead role in this regards were still lacking.
Melinda Henry of World Health Organisation (WHO) Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals, who spoke on progress made in discovery of HIV vaccines in the past, told Daily Independent in Abuja that the halted vaccine trials would provide scientists with useful information that could be used to design future vaccines.
"More work on HIV vaccine is taking place in Africa. There are about 12 trials done in not less eight countries. I think it is important that this is happening in Africa because, if it does not happen in Africa then it would be difficult to get a vaccine for Africans as the epidemic is raging," Henry said.
According to her, Nigeria is very important in any struggle to tame the ravages of HIV/AIDS because of its huge population.
"Nigeria might not be the worst affected in the West African sub-region or Africa as a whole, but a little proportion of Nigerians affected means so much," she said.
Assistant Professor at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA, Dr. Alash’le Abimiku, is optimistic that Nigeria has a lot to offer the continent and the world on HIV vaccine.
Speaking an interview with Daily Independent in Abuja, she said, "Nigeria being one of the prominent countries in Africa sure has an important role to play in the discovery of HIV vaccine in Africa."
She, however, noted that understanding the specific kind of epidemics in Nigeria just like other countries was important to deal effectively with the issue, adding that the University of Maryland had been working on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria in the last 17 years, trying to characterise the HIV epidemic and to ascertain how many new infections are happening and set up infrastructure that could allow for clinical trials.
"Harvard is also part of this collaborative group with Nigeria. I also know that the U.S. military is involved. There are many companies working on the production of an effective HIV vaccine. Nigeria has added its own contribution in this regards," Abimiku said.
According to her, "Just knowing about the viruses, the population at risk, setting up all the clinical infrastructure for clinical trials and working with the community to let them know that the medicine are experimental are enough contributions. There are some Nigerians working in the field of HIV/AIDS that adds to the body of contributions as well."
It was announced at the AAVP forum in Abuja that research has reached advanced stage on an effective vaccine to combat HIV/AIDS.
Meanwhile, a biomedical research centre consisting of a network of three institutes in Dakar, Senegal, Entebe, Uganda, and Cape Town, South Africa, has been establish to build and strengthen capacity in the area of HIV vaccines work in Africa.
Also, a centre that would take care of the regulatory issues is to be chosen just as a location in Pietersmaritzburg, South Africa, has been selected to handle all ethical, law and human rights issues of HIV vaccines. The centre for communication and media is located in Nairobi, Kenya.
The 2007 HIV/AIDS report just recently released by WHO and UNAIDS estimates that two-thirds of the 2.5 million new infections globally in 2007 alone occurred in Africa and HIV/AIDS remains the primary cause of death among adults living in sub-Saharan Africa.