NIAID To Partner With Three Nigerian Health Institutions To Combat HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Wednesday in a statement said that it would work with three Nigerian health institutions to address HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the country, Xinhua News Agency reports. NIAID Division of AIDS Director Edmund Tramont, who was visiting Nigerian Minister of Health Eyitayo Lambo in Abuja, Nigeria, said that the goal of the partnership is to build capacity for Nigerians and will involve research, drug production and other services. Lambo said that the Nigerian government is "predisposed to supporting the collaboration" and was prepared to offer necessary assistance, according to Xinhua News Agency. Lambo also said that forthcoming Nigerian government reforms aimed at the health sector would "embrace research, local manufacture of drugs and provision of services," Xinhua News Agency reports (Xinhua News Agency, 11/5). Although the country currently has a lower HIV prevalence than many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria's "huge population" of 128 million people could mean that the country has the third highest number of HIV-positive people on the continent, according to the Nigerian Health Ministry (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/6).