U.S. Secretary Of State Anthony Blinken has commended what he described as Nigeria’s for positive transformation in research and capacity development in disease control by taking advantage of the partnership with the United States through the President Emergency Plan For Aids Relief ( PEPFAR).
Blinken gave the commendation during a visit to the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research in Lagos.
He said it was important he visited the Institute despite his tight schedule based on the existing public health partnership between the research institute and the US government in the last twenty years.
The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) was one of the four US PEPFAR supported laboratories for the Covid-19 pandemic response between 2020 and 2021.
Through the PEPFAR Partnership, the US government also invested more than 100 billion dollars in the global fight against HIV/Aids and almost eight point three billion in Nigeria, providing access to anti retroviral care for over one point six million Nigerians.
The U.S. partnership with NIMR also includes malaria surveillance, tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment.
Editor Oloyede Oworu
