According to statistics from WHO/UN, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people and an estimated 33.2 million people all over the world are living with HIV. Out of this 30% are women and 10% are children (below 15 years). Despite the improved access to ARV treatment and care, the AIDS epidemic is killing at least 5,700 people per day all over the world. Despite rampant awareness 6,800 people are getting infected everyday all over the world. As we are preparing for 2010 International Conference on HIV/AIDS and 5th National AIDS Conference on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, we need to discuss on how to change our society through public policy research, public awareness, increased funding, and community education. Above all we should immediately translate all HIV/AIDS policies into action to benefit the people and for that reason we need commitment, strong and an effective Leadership both in Government and Civil society organizations. Otherwi...

There are many young women and girls who suffer from different reproductive health problems including STIs and HIV/AIDS, and are left to fend for them-selves. The growing number of young women and girls who are infected or affected with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria is worrisome. Nowhere in the world has the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on women and girls been more pronounced than in Nigeria. Nigeria has the second highest rates of people living with HIV/AIDS and 77% of them are women. Young women and girls are particularly affected: almost one half of all new infections worldwide occur among individuals between the ages of 15-24, and 62% of young people living with HIV/AIDS are women. It is said that physiologically, women are twice more likely to contract HIV from men than the other way round. Moreover, it is true that social factors contribute to further vulnerability of HIV and AIDS among young women and girls. Fewer than one-third of young women aged 15-30 in Nigeria fully underst...

It is obvious that the growing number of young girls infected and affected with HIV/AIDS increases daily, and Nigeria is almost at the highest risk. An estimated 22.4 million adults and children were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2008. During that year, an estimated 1.4 million Africans died from AIDS . Around 14.1 million children have lost one or both parents to the epidemic. Losing future mothers to a scourge we can control is totally unacceptable. Yes, political will matters but I want to address the most important issues. 1. Local Impact: In recent years, most HIV/AIDS enlightenment programmes revolve around urban areas. As such, young people in rural communities lack this information and would continue to be vulnerable to the infection. Every year, we are experiencing an up-surge of rural to urban migration (for employment and good livelihood). The group of youths migrating to urban areas come with little or no knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Therefore, it is high...

Too many people die simply for lack of access to the knowledge that can save their lives. This knowledge exists; however it remains inaccessible to those who need it the most. Access to health information is an integral part of all health systems because it can improve people's health. The media needs to do more to tackle the stigma and discrimination of HIV/AIDS in the rural parts of Nigeria. HIV intervention and media's coverage of HIV/AIDS tends to focus on urban areas of the country without minding what the Virus is doing in the villages, and the effect of the disease on vulnerable and helpless people that reside in the rural areas of our society, and also our agriculture, because food production is from this rural populace. I believe that media can help change this situation by presenting facts about the disease and its effect in our rural communities, by featuring stories of people living with HIV/AIDS in the rural areas, and highlighting support services also available i...

Forum for Activists Against HIV/AIDS Scourge (FAAS), yesterday embarked on the first phase training of women to form a core group of community paralegals to address HIV/AIDS rights. In an interview with* The New Times*, Frank Asiimwe, CEO of FAAS-Rwanda, said that the training will give participants an opportunity to deal with legal issues in their communities. “Our aim is to train women and girls to be paralegals and take cases of people living with and or affected by HIV/AIDS,” he said. Asiimwe added that the participants will also be sensitised on the importance of the East African Community (EAC) bill on the prevention and management of HIV/AIDS and other regional pronouncements on HIV and criminal justice. “This will help them own the bill and use it in HIV/AIDS scourge response” During the training, there will be a brief evaluation of the participant’s knowledge on Family law, law of inheritance, land law and the Gender Based Violence (GBV) law. Marie Josée Mukandekezi of the Nat...

According to statistics from WHO/UN, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people and an estimated 33.2 million people all over the world are living with HIV. Out of this 30% are women and 10% are children (below 15 years). Despite the improved access to ARV treatment and care, the AIDS epidemic is killing at least 5,700 people per day all over the world. Despite rampant awareness 6,800 people are getting infected everyday all over the world. As we are preparing for 2010 International Conference on HIV/AIDS and 5th National AIDS Conference on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, we need to discuss how to change our society through public policy research, public awareness, increased funding, and community education. Above all we should immediately translate all HIV/AIDS policies into action to benefit the people, and for that reason we need commitment, and strong and effective leadership both in Government and Civil Society organizations. Otherwis...

HOW do we fight the stigma and discrimination that has become synonymous with HIV/AIDS? How do we show people who are not infected with the virus or affected by it, that those who have been dealt this "bad hand" deserve our compassion? These persons have not committed any sin and even if they did, does God not forgive sinners? Those are but three of the many questions that have been floating around in my mind that we need to address during the fort coming 5TH National HIV/AIDS Conference in Nigeria and at the AIDS 2010, and it has become clear to me that while we need legislation to speak to stigma and discrimination, and that legislation must be the bedrock of the fight against HIV in general, our people must also be educated which we need to champion through people living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria, For they are the vital organ that has been forgotten both in decision making, planning and implementation of HIV and AIDS activities in Nigeria. But, you may say we have been...