Senior defence and health leaders from Nigeria and the United States on Wednesday marked 20 years of a groundbreaking military-to-military health partnership at a ceremony held at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
The event celebrated two decades of collaboration between the Nigeria Ministry of Defence Health Implementation Programme (NMODHIP) and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), a partnership credited with transforming military and public health outcomes in Nigeria.
Those present included the Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle; U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills; Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa; Major General Paula C. Lodi, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command; Brigadier General I.B. Solebo, Director General of NMODHIP; and senior military and health officials from both countries.
Brigadier General Solebo said the partnership had strengthened Nigeria’s health system, expanded access to HIV treatment, built world-class laboratories, and trained thousands of health workers. “This collaboration stands as a model of resilience, innovation and impact for soldiers, families and communities,” he said.
In his address, Dr Matawalle praised the enduring partnership and its “lifesaving services,” describing it as a key pillar of Nigeria’s defence health and national security. He thanked the U.S. government for its role and pledged continued Nigerian support.
Established in 2005, the WRAIR–NMODHIP partnership has supported HIV programming under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), biosafety and biosecurity initiatives, infectious disease surveillance and research, and malaria interventions under the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI).
Over the past two decades, more than 69,000 adults and children have been initiated on antiretroviral therapy, with over 40,900 currently on treatment. HIV testing services have reached 1.6 million people, identifying 110,097 positives, while more than 277,000 pregnant women have been counselled and tested. The programme has also trained over 2,000 healthcare workers and upgraded more than 50 laboratories nationwide, including the 2024 commissioning of a state-of-the-art TB Modular Laboratory at the Defence Reference Laboratory in Abuja.
Ambassador Mills highlighted the significance of the collaboration, calling it “a testament to the power of unity” and noting that “resilience and dedication” had turned obstacles into opportunities.
Helina Meri, Country Director of WRAIR-Africa in Nigeria, said the partnership exemplified the power of science and cooperation to advance public health, while reaffirming both nations’ commitment to sustain and expand the collaboration in the years ahead.
