AFRO-NETS> Over US$ 260,000 in New Grants for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Nigeria

[Media Resource Advocacy Centre <mracnigeria@yahoo.com>]

Over US$ 260,000 in New Grants for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Nigeria
-----------------------------------------------------------------


AIDS PREVENTION INITIATIVE IN NIGERIA (APIN) ANNOUNCES MORE THAN US$ 
260,000 IN NEW GRANTS TO HELP PREVENT THE SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS

MARCH 8, 2002: Abuja, Nigeria. ­ AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria 
(APIN), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and directed by 
the Harvard School of Public Health in collaboration with the Kennedy 
School of Government today announced new funding for five Nigerian 
HIV/AIDS prevention-focused initiatives. 

* Forum on HIV/AIDS: 
APIN?s funding will help make possible an important Forum on HIV/AIDS 
to be chaired tomorrow by President Olusegun Obasanjo and attended by 
leading ministers, governors and local leaders. In collaboration with 
the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) and the Federal Ministry 
of Health, APIN will provide support to the program with interventions 
on the economics of HIV/AIDS by Harvard Professor Jeffrey Sachs and 
colleagues. The Forum will also be attended by former U.S. President 
Jimmy Cater and Bill Gates Sr., Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates 
Foundation. President Carter and Mr. Gates are in Nigeria as part of a 
three-country African mission to raise awareness of the need for in-
creased focus on HIV/AIDS prevention.

* Urban Frontiers Mission: 
A portion of the APIN grant will also go to the Urban Frontiers Mission 
of Plateau State, a faith based non-governmental organization which has 
been working with commercial sex workers to educate them on the risks 
of HIV/AIDS and other STDs. The program will seek to help these women 
acquire the jobs skills necessary to pursue alternate professions. The 
program will also provide counseling and support to those with infected 
with HIV. 

* Women?s Health Education and Development: 
APIN is also supporting a similar prevention initiative by the NGO, 
Women?s Health Education and Development. This Abuja-based, non-
governmental organization combines women?s reproductive health messages 
with HIV/AIDS prevention activities for commercial sex workers (CSWs) 
in Apo Village, an area of the Capital Territory experiencing an in-
creased influx of sex workers from neighboring Sharia states. A number 
of advocacy events and training of peer educators will be supported by 
this grant, with the hope of increasing HIV prevention knowledge and 
behaviors among CSWs, who are at high risk of contracting and spreading 
HIV. 

* Plateau State Plan of Action Against AIDS: 
APIN funding will also go to the National Action Committee on AIDS 
(NACA) for support and technical assistance in the development of the 
Plateau State Plan of Action Against AIDS. The Plateau State Action 
Committee on AIDS (SACA) will work with the state government, ministry, 
universities and non-governmental organizations in coordinating the ef-
forts of the HIV/AIDS programs throughout the state. 

* Preventing Mother to Child Transmission:
The Federal Ministry of Health has launched an important program to 
prevent mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Nigeria. Eight 
pilot sites have been designated throughout the country to provide a 
program of counseling, testing and therapy for HIV positive mothers in 
an effort to reduce transmission to their babies. APIN provides support 
for the Ibadan and Jos pilot sites. This new grant from APIN will sup-
port a week-long training program for counselors in all eight pilot 
sites. 

?Nigeria is at a critical point,? said Dr. Phyllis Kanki, Director, 
AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria, Harvard School of Public Health. 
?The HIV infection rate is currently 5.8%. Action taken today to pre-
vent the spread of HIV is critical to ensuring that Nigeria follows the 
example of Uganda, Senegal and other nations who have controlled and 
even reversed infection rates.?

?We have seen the successes that have resulted from comprehensive 
HIV/AIDS strategies that emphasize prevention,? confirmed Dr. Helene 
Gayle, Director, HIV/AIDS & TB for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 
who will be participating in the Forum. ?To replicate these results in 
Nigeria and elsewhere we need the strong commitment of local govern-
ments and health officials to education, awareness and action. Tomor-
row?s Forum and the APIN-supported prevention initiatives are important 
steps for Nigeria.? 

The AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN), funded by the Bill & 
Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to partnerships with government, 
universities and non-governmental organizations towards HIV/AIDS Pre-
vention programs in Nigeria. The APIN program is directed by the Har-
vard School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Kennedy School 
of Government in Boston, Massachusetts. In the past 14 months of opera-
tion, the program has partnered with 15 Nigerian organizations to ini-
tiate or support programs in the areas of HIV surveillance and inter-
vention, education and public mobilization, prevention of mother to 
child transmission of HIV and focused education efforts in high risk 
populations. Through the establishment of multi-disciplinary and sus-
tainable collaborations, the goal is to reduce the spread of HIV infec-
tion and have a significant impact on slowing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 
Nigeria. To date, the APIN program has funded a number of important 
programs in the target states of Plateau, Oyo and Lagos and has sup-
ported many national HIV/AIDS programs. Over US$3 milllion has been in-
vested in Nigeria in the past year). 

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to improving people?s 
lives by sharing advances in health and learning with the global commu-
nity. Led by Bill Gates? father, William H. Gates Sr., and Patty Stone-
sifer, the Seattle-based foundation has an asset base of $23.4 billion. 
For complete information, visit http://www.gatesfoundation.org


Contact:
Dr. Oluwole Odutolu MD
APIN Project Office 400-141
c/o International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
(IITA) Headquarters
P.M.B. 5320
Oyo Road, Ibadan, Nigeria
Tel: +234-2-2412626 ext 2359 
Fax: +234-2-2412221
mailto:apin@cgiar.org
http://www.apin.harvard.edu

--
To send a message to AFRO-NETS, write to: afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@usa.healthnet.org
in the body of the message type: subscribe afro-nets OR unsubscribe afro-nets
To contact a person, send a message to: afro-nets-help@usa.healthnet.org
Information and archives: http://www.afronets.org