Gabriel Ezenri, a Nigerian health researcher and leading voice in HIV prevention and health policy innovation, has attracted the attention of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) for his pioneering work shaping Nigeria’s response to emerging HIV prevention technologies. The agency has cited new evidence from his study as critical to its ongoing plans for introducing the dapivirine vaginal ring (DVR) on university campuses across Nigeria.

Ezenri, a health economics and outcomes researcher focused on HIV prevention, led the study titled “Awareness and Willingness to Pay for Dapivirine Vaginal Ring by Female Undergraduate Students of the University of Nigeria.” The research assessed baseline awareness, acceptance after brief education, and willingness-to-pay thresholds among female undergraduates. Using a structured survey across faculties, Ezenri’s team found that average willingness-to-pay levels clustered between ₦410 and ₦8,000 per ring, offering the first evidence-based estimates of affordable price ceilings within campus populations.

The study, led and presented by Ezenri at the 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022), was selected from hundreds of global abstracts for its policy relevance and has since drawn commendation from HIV programme planners and international prevention experts. The presentation was praised for bridging economic evaluation, behavioral science, and gender-sensitive HIV prevention approaches — a model increasingly recognized as vital to scaling long-acting biomedical tools in low-resource settings.

Speaking in Abuja, Chiagozie Mgbemena, a NACA representative, said the findings come at a critical time for Nigeria’s HIV prevention programming. “The study gives planners practical parameters: what students know, what changes acceptance, and what price points keep access fair,” she said. “We can take these signals into our budgeting and reference them for policy when the need arises.”

NACA, by mandate, coordinates the country’s multi-sectoral HIV response and issues national policy guidance. According to agency officials, the availability of student-level affordability and acceptability data makes the study particularly useful as government and donors consider early introduction scenarios for the ring. They noted that campus-specific willingness-to-pay data could help define equitable co-pay bands, while the sharp increase in acceptance after brief education supports pairing product rollouts with targeted counselling and peer-led outreach in student health clinics. The findings are being referenced in NACA’s internal technical briefs to guide early rollout models and have informed discussions within the national PrEP Technical Working Group on expanding prevention access to young women.

The study’s conclusions also align with broader international guidance. In January 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a conditional recommendation allowing the dapivirine vaginal ring to be offered as an additional HIV prevention option for women at substantial risk, alongside oral PrEP and injectable methods. Nigerian planners say that the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) based data will help stress-test tender price ceilings, support local manufacturing considerations, and inform subsidy design for students and low-income populations.

Ezenri’s abstract was first presented at AIDS 2022, which brought together scientists, policymakers, and advocates in Montréal and online between July 29 and August 2, 2022. Organizers of the conference highlighted its role in translating research evidence into near-term program decisions — an emphasis echoed by Nigerian officials evaluating the ring’s integration into tertiary-institution health services.

Dr. AbdulMuminu Isah, a researcher and lecturer at the department of clinical pharmacy and pharmacy management at the University of Nigeria, notes that Ezenri’s work contributes a Nigeria-specific, student-focused perspective to the growing body of international resources on DVR implementation. It provides national teams with actionable data as they prepare phased rollouts and engage in market-shaping discussions with donors and manufacturers. Through this contribution, Ezenri has emerged as one of the leading young researchers translating HIV prevention science into national policy action, reinforcing Nigeria’s evidence-driven approach to ending AIDS by 2030.