To promote public and private partnership for quality health services, capacity building and research in West Africa, the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) is collaborating with Access Bank to raise N5 billion for the building of a state-of-the-art International Research Centre of Excellence (IRCE) in Abuja.
The centre, which was established in 2015, is one of the major fulcrums of the vision of IHVN as a local non-governmental and not-for-profit organisation established to bring quality health services within the reach of millions of Nigerians and nationals of the West African region.
The chairman of the IHVN Ad-hoc Committee for the building of the Centre, Umaru Mutallab, said that with the establishment of IRCE, the Institute sees a future in which scientists are nurtured and provided world-class infrastructure to research collaboratively on diseases of relevance to the local community such as HIV, TB, malaria, cancer, non-communicable diseases, and emerging infectious diseases.
He said that the current drive to eradicate many communicable and non-communicable diseases in Nigeria is driven by international donor organizations, which is not sustainable. “We cannot continually depend, lock, stock and barrel, on the big-heartedness of the international community for all our health needs and those of our children, neither should we always travel outside the shores of this great nation when we can build sustainable capacities for collaborative researches into the diseases that affect our wellbeing and of the whole world,” he added.
Executive Director, Access Bank, Victor Etuokwu said the ultra-modern research facility by IHVN will go a long way in helping to nip diseases in the bud.
“The true essence of life is, relationship with others. It’s the real reason we are here. When we sit back and watch diseases take over while we do nothing, we stand to lose everything. I think it’s a really worthy cause. So here is a call to you to come, join hands with IHVN and help restore hope,” Etuokwu said.
Similarly, managing director/CEO of Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, noted that the Foundation was partnering with IHVN as part of its strategic objectives. According to her, health is pivotal to achieving the other components, which are education and socio-economic development. “It is in no doubt that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation, we are delighted to be part of this laudable project especially for providing opportunities for health promotion and disease prevention.”
The Centre, located along airport road in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, will be a combination of laboratories, offices, training facilities, and lecture auditoriums on a 2.5-hectare of land that IHVN has acquired and fenced. It will contribute immensely to the sustainability of the HIV, TB, malaria, cancer, other diseases and programs in Nigeria and beyond.
