By Haruna Vinina,Michael Matyek and Abdullahi Sulaiman
The Director of African Center of Excellence in Phytomedicine Research Development (ACEPRD), University of Jos, Professor Abraham Dogo, has revealed “Vector Africa Network” as the next big project the center is working on.
Prof Dogo explained that “Vector Africa Network’’ is aimed at understanding vector-borne diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. “The project is in conjunction with countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, and Mozambique in Africa and the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Romania in Europe,” he said.
He revealed that the project is currently at grant application stage. “Submission of the grant application is the first stage and the grant is about 6 million euro which is about 89 Billion Naira”, he said.
He added that the first grant the center got was 8 million dollars. “The center is hoping that the current grant would be about 12 billion”.
Giving more insight on the project, the director said, “The project would also involve the manufacturing and research of products for mosquitoes and ticks that transmit viruses and bacteria. Also, tse-tse fly which transmits sleeping sickness in both human and animals would be taken into consideration. The project will entail world health generally, he added.
He stated that the project will go a long way in tackling a lot of problems in Africa, not in Nigeria alone, when the project becomes a success.
