AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN) Announces More Than US$260,000 in New Grants

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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
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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. Videoconferencing will allow other international those AIDS experts to participate. This technology will provide an added resource for future HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. The Forum will also be attended by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and William H. 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 increased focus on HIV/AIDS prevention.

  • Urban Frontiers Mission: A portion of the APIN grant will go to the Urban Frontiers Mission of Plateau State, a faith-based non-governmental organization that 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 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 increased 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 efforts 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 support 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 prevent 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," said Dr. Helene Gayle, former 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 governments and health officials to education, awareness and action. Tomorrow's Forum and the APIN-supported prevention initiatives are important steps for Nigeria."
 
The AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to partnerships with government, universities and non-governmental organizations towards HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Nigeria. The APIN program is directed by the Harvard School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Kennedy School of Government in Boston, Massachusetts. In the past 14 months of operation, the program has partnered with 15 Nigerian organizations to initiate or support programs in the areas of HIV surveillance and intervention, 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 sustainable collaborations, the goal is to reduce the spread of HIV infection 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 supported many national HIV/AIDS programs. Over US$3 million has been invested in Nigeria in the past year.