The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) has achieved a remarkable milestone in preventing the spread of HIV from mothers to their babies. On Tuesday, Professor Oliver Ezechi, the institute’s Director of Research, shared that over 7,000 women across the country have taken part in NIMR’s Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme.
He explained that out of this number, 5,717 women delivered at NIMR’s health centre, with less than one percent of the babies testing positive for HIV. No case of transmission has been recorded in the last four years among mothers who followed the programme from pregnancy through delivery.
Ezechi attributed this success to the institute’s scientific approach, which follows international standards used in developed countries. He noted that many healthcare centres still reject pregnant women once they test positive for HIV, but NIMR decided to take a different route by adopting proven strategies to ensure safe deliveries and healthy babies.
He also shared that the institute’s paediatric HIV clinic now receives fewer patients than before—a strong sign that the preventive efforts are working. Beyond maternal care, NIMR is also conducting research into youth-friendly HIV self-testing tools and combining hypertension treatment with HIV care to improve health outcomes in Nigeria.
