TETFund challenges Nigerian scientists to develop local Lassa fever vaccine

….As study reveals alarming death tollBy Joseph Erunke

Abuja—The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, has challenged Nigerian scientists to accelerate efforts toward developing the country’s first indigenous Lassa fever vaccine, following fresh findings that the deadly disease kills between 5,000 and 10,000 Nigerians every year.

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, who threw the challenge during the presentation of the outcomes of a N250 million TETFund-sponsored Mega Research Project on Lassa Fever, undertaken by the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, FUHSO, Benue State, in Abuja yesterday, described Lassa fever as one of Nigeria’s most pressing public health threats.

He said the country must move beyond academic research to delivering life-saving solutions capable of reducing the annual toll of the disease.

Echono urged the research team to focus on the quickest route to developing a vaccine, stressing that immunisation remained the most effective strategy for combating infectious diseases.