3 Nigerians recognised for research on HIV-self test

Three young Nigerian researchers have received recognition for their research on promoting  HIV self-testing among Nigerian youth. The researchers won the HIV self-testing contest for their creative ideas on how to promote self-testing among young people in the country. They were among a pool of 903 contestants that proposed smart ideas on the awareness promotion […]

Three young Nigerian researchers have received recognition for their research on promoting  HIV self-testing among Nigerian youth.

The researchers won the HIV self-testing contest for their creative ideas on how to promote self-testing among young people in the country. They were among a pool of 903 contestants that proposed smart ideas on the awareness promotion exercise.

They are: Idris Badmus (winner), Tony Akeju (1st runner up), and Ginika Nzokwe (2nd runner up).

The contest was organized by the 4Youth By Youth (4YBY) Group, a team of Nigerian researchers led Dr. Oliver Ezechi at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Yaba, Lagos.

Others are scientists at Saint Louis University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, backed by the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Eunice Shriver National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development.

The award ceremony took place at  the Police Training College, Ikeja, Lagos.

4Youth By Youth (4YBY) identified the adoption of HIV self-testing as an additional way to create demand for HIV testing, thereby increasing knowledge of HIV status and reducing the accelerated spread of HIV/AIDS nationwide among young people in the country.

The team coordinated a social media-driven HIV self-testing contest that ran from October 25th to November 25th 2018, in a bid to crowd-source innovative ideas to promote HIV self-testing in Nigeria.

Speaking during the World AIDS Day HIV self-testing awareness event, 4Youth By Youth Principal Investigator, Dr. Juliet Iwelunmor said, “our goal is to drive the increased participation of young Nigerians in the fight against HIV/AIDS through generating demand and adoption of self-testing.

“This we hope to achieve by rewarding innovative and creative ideas that encourage self-testing amongst Nigerian youth, which will ultimately go a long way in helping to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat.”

The top three winners, who were unveiled at the World AIDS Day event, went home with prizes, cool gadgets, as well as mentorship opportunities from leading business and health professionals. They will be trained based on the ideas they have pitched.

The 4YBY Group, in collaboration with Lagos AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), had organized a walkathon, which took place before the commencement of the award ceremony.

About 300 people were offer free HIV screening by medical experts at the event.