The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos State, got a total of 91 grants from donors amounting to N605 million in 2020, Prof. Babatunde Salako, the Director- General of NIMR, said on Tuesday.
Salako made the disclosure at a two-day retreat organised by NIMR in Lagos to review the institute’s performance for 2020.
He said: “There was improvement in our grants this year compared to the N477 milion grants in total we received in 2019.
“We initiated small startup grants for junior researchers in the institute to empower them on their various research works.
“We also got COVID-19 support which enabled us to contribute to the control of the pandemic in the country,” he said.
The D-G added that the institute received 100 per cent budget from the government in 2020, hoping that the move would be sustained in years to come to further empower NIMR in the discharge of its duty.
According to Salako, one of the major works carried out in the institute in 2020 was the sequencing of the country’s COVID-19 index cases.
“In a long while, NIMR was able to get 100 per cent budget from the Federal Government and I hope it will be sustained yearly.
“At the beginning of 2020, we reorganised our departments and created new centres to ensure that all departments got the needed attention which also included infrastructural development.
“Some of our researchers also carried out some groundbreaking research work in the fight against COVID-19 which included the RNA Extraction Kits and Isortherma Testing Assay Kits.
“The sequencing of the COVID-19 index case by NIMR, which was the first of its kind in Africa, was a remarkable feat.
“We hope for a better recognition from the government to help us do more,” he said.
Salako explained that the institute had yet to get organisations that would take up some of its COVID-19 kits for mass production.
“By now, some of our research works on COVID-19 testing kits ought to have flown but because of our appetite for foreign things, we are yet to get organisations to take it up.
“We must have a change of attitude and embrace locally made products that have been validated for usage in order to promote what we are doing as a country,” he said.
He, however, appealed to the government to provide a dedicated fund for groundbreaking research works in the country.
“We are working with two other institutions to work on Lassa Fever vaccine but the lack of fund is hindering us.
“Lassa Fever is a viral infection peculiar to this country and if we don’t do anything about it, nobody from outside will do anything for us.
“So, there should be a dedicated fund that the government should have in place for major research works for public health emergencies,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day event which started on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 will end on Dec. 16, 2020. (NAN)
