Nigerian scientists abroad from Washington State University and the University of North Carolina are collaborating with researchers from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) to tackle pressing health issues in Nigeria by harnessing the power of young people.
Tagged The 2024 Mega Designathon, the initiative brought together bright minds in Lagos from medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and laboratory science to develop locally-driven solutions. Their goal is to address and prevent major health challenges like hypertension, stroke, HIV/AIDS, cervical and liver cancers, and increase HPV vaccination rates.
“User acceptance is crucial,” emphasized Professor Babatunde Salako, Director of NIMR, during the Lagos opening ceremony. He pointed to past research where solutions faced user resistance due to a lack of familiarity with the development process.
This Mega Designathon flips the script. Dr. Juliet Iwelunmor, Lead Investigator from Washington State University, explains, “Nigerians eat local food, wear local clothing, and work local jobs, so why shouldn’t our health solutions be local too?”
The 4-day Bootcamp, held from April 3rd to 6th, focused on four key projects, including cervical cancer and HPV-related cancers, liver cancer and hepatitis, the importance of HBV vaccination uptake among newborns, and a call to action for youths to take the reins in the fight against HIV. The four groups are tagged: 4YBY Team; 4C Team; 4MB Team and Music 4 Health Team.
Over 40 teams of young people aged 19-24 participated. Their challenge: develop innovative ideas to address these crucial health issues.
“We want to see all your creativity,” Dr. Iwelunmor urged participants. “Big or small, every solution matters. Some may not work, but others will. We’re here to learn from each other and create solutions that work best for Nigerians.”
Iwelunmor explained that there were about 40 teams of youths within the age range of 19 to 24, saddled with the responsibilities of producing innovative ideas to motivate mothers to vaccinate their newborns with HPV vaccines; ensuring that no Nigerian youth is HIV positive, and using music to drive awareness and prevent hypertension and stroke, among others.
According to her, “All our creativity is local. The food we eat or the clothes we wear everything we do is local. It’s our own. So, how much less our health? We know what works best for us. So that’s why we are gathered here. We are gathered here to say that no solution is too small, no solution is too big. Some solutions may fail, but some solutions will also succeed. The key is that you have to bring it.
“We are here asking our youth, asking our community-based organisations, asking just everybody that has a handle on health, that has experienced health, that wants to learn, to bring those solutions, and together we will create what we know will work best for us.
“It’s not enough to go elsewhere and say, Let’s imbibe other people’s food, other people’s culture, when we know what works for us. So that’s why we are gathered, to ask people in general, What are those solutions for increasing HPV vaccination uptake? Do you know what will work best so that more girls, for example, are vaccinated? Please bring it”.
