Director General/CEO – NIMR, Prof. Babatunde Lawal Salako (first from right) presented 60 Units of Non-invasive Ventilators to Federal Ministry of Health on 31st August 2020 as part of the institute’s contribution to the fight against COVID -19 pandemic.

The item was received by Dr. Baba Ahmed and his colleague on behalf of the Ministry.

The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) conducted hands-on practical training on the Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) for entomological surveillance for Principal Investigators and Entomology Technicians for proposed vector surveillance sentinel sites in Ogun, Jigawa, Katsina, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe, Kaduna and Delta states.
The training is part of the ongoing plan to scale up Vector Surveillance activities in the country. The older sites of Kwara and Osun were also part of the training due to the New Nets Evaluation project which is scheduled to take place in these two states as pilot locations for the project.
The objectives of the training amongst others include:

1. To equip the participants with the details of the protocol for entomological surveillance activities
2. Provide hands-on practical guidance on the SOPs for entomological surveillance
3. Provide participants with details on mosquitoes rearing techniques and insectary management
4. Share expectations/roles/responsibilities of the stakeholders in entomological surveillance.
   Each state was represented by 3 persons- 1 PI and 2 Ento Techs while Kaduna state had a Co-PI and an SMEP personnel in attendance. The new sites are expected to conduct insecticide resistance monitoring activities only except Kaduna which will be conducting both IRM & Monthly mosquito collection. The workshop was therefore structured to include both theatrical and practical sessions supported by experience sharing from the older sites (Kwara and Osun).
   The DG-NIMR Prof. Babatunde Lawal Salako who graced a session, urged participants to put in their very best while emphasizing on the need to push for home-grown technologies.
   As a follow-up to the training, the number of sentinel sites in the country is expected to increase from the current 16 to 24 states. The participants are equipped to commence activities at the various sites to add to national data on status of insecticide resistance across the country. In addition, data on mosquito vector biology will add to the collection of information in the Malaria Data Repository as well as the National Bionomics and Bioinformatics.

Date: 20th- 24th July, 2020

Venue: Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba-Lagos.