LAGOS, Nigeria – The Academy of Medical Sciences of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to increase funding for biomedical research, warning that inadequate investment could leave the country vulnerable to future disease outbreaks and limit access to affordable treatments.
The Academy said sustained support for genomic and biomedical research would strengthen healthcare delivery, promote local vaccine and drug development, create jobs and improve Nigeria’s capacity to respond to emerging diseases. The call was made at its 2026 Annual Scientific Conference held on Friday at the Marriott Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos State.
Delivering the keynote address, Azeez Butali, Gilbert Lilly Endowed Professor of Diagnostic Sciences at the University of Iowa, United States, said investment in the Human Genome Project had generated significant economic and medical benefits, with every dollar invested reportedly yielding about $141 in returns.
He urged Nigeria to apply similar commitment to research, particularly to develop more affordable treatments for sickle cell disease, which affects a large population in the country. Butali said many patients could not afford available treatment options, including bone marrow transplantation, despite the country’s high disease burden.
He also warned that Nigeria’s response to future pandemics could remain limited if the government continued to rely mainly on emergency measures rather than investing in research, vaccine development and drug discovery. “Ebola and COVID-19 will not be the last scare. There will be another pandemic in the future,” he said, calling for funding to identify molecules that could be developed into vaccines and medicines.
The professor also urged Nigerians to participate in community-based research, saying public involvement was essential to scientific discoveries and the development of precision medicine. He said research could help scientists investigate health problems associated with environmental pollution and other conditions while creating opportunities for young researchers.
Also speaking, Lily Paemka, Associate Professor of Human Genetics and Genomics at the University of Ghana, called for greater inclusion of African genomes in global genetic studies.
In a presentation titled “Genetics and Genomics of Breast Cancer: Lessons from Accra”, Paemka said research remained heavily concentrated on Caucasian populations, with only about two per cent involving black populations.
She said Africa’s genetic diversity offered an important opportunity to identify new genetic variants associated with diseases and improve the development of treatments suited to African populations.
Paemka, who is also Deputy Director of the West African Genetic Medicine Centre at the University of Ghana, said late diagnosis and aggressive forms of some cancers contributed to poor survival rates in Africa.
She identified breast cancer, multiple myeloma and prostate cancer among the conditions requiring greater public awareness and research attention. “We need to let people know that cancer is a disease and not a curse. We also need to debunk the myths and misconceptions surrounding it,” she said.
Paemka called for stronger public education to encourage early presentation, improve research participation and expand access to advances in genomic medicine. The Foundation President of the Academy, Prof. Oladapo Ashiru, also urged the Federal Government to establish a national centre for genomic diseases.
Ashiru said Nigeria had trained specialists capable of advancing genomic medicine but continued to depend heavily on partnerships with foreign institutions. He said a national centre would help harness local expertise, support genetic testing and strengthen the country’s ability to identify and prevent inherited conditions.
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