AEGiS-14IAC: Community based hiv prevention activities.

14th International AIDS Conference


Barcelona, Spain - July 7-12, 2002

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Community based hiv prevention activities.

Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. F11782)

Dikko DH
Women and Youth Support, Kano, Nigeria

ISSUES: The problem of HIV/AIDS is a major concern in Nigeria. By 1999, the country had a prevalence of 5.4%, indicating that about 2.6 million Nigerians were HIV infected (Federal Ministry of Health, 1999 Sentinel Surveillance). This number is believed to be rising owing to a combination of factors such as poverty, worsening economic situation, high risk behaviors, subordinate position of women and socio-cultural practices. Kano State has HIV prevalence of 4.3% while Kano town, the State Capital, has a prevalence of 3.6%. In this predominantly Islamic State, women are particularly vulnerable as they often lack access to education and economic opportunities, they experience reduced bargaining power with sexual partners.

DESCRIPTION: In order to address these problems, in the year 2000, Women and Youth Support (WAYS) participated in a Family Health International (FHI) in-depth assessment. As a result of this assessment, widows and divorcees were identified as a high- risk group. WAYS is working in collaboration with seven other NGOs whom FHI is all supporting in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Kano. The NGOs promotes the implementation of integrated strategies in sexual and reproductive health through skill sharing and exchange of experiences in order to strengthen the capacity of their target groups in preventing HIV/AIDS and in improving care and support in the community for people living with HIV/AIDS. The network builds the capacity of the target groups through workshops, training, and meetings. Activities include the establishment of clubs, counseling units and centers. Conclusions/

ISSUES: The benefits of the network are many. First improving the sexual reproductive health of the target groups and developing the capacity of the NGOs. This enables the sexual reproductive issues to be tackled at the grass root level whist the network serves as more powerful forum for advocacy at government level.

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, Sexual Partners, HIV Seropositivity, Counseling, Community Health Services, Government, Nigeria, Human, Female, prevention & controlKWDaegis,acquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome,hivinfections,sexualpartners,hivseropositivity,counseling,communityhealthservices,government,nigeria,human,female,prevention&control

020707
F11782

Copyright © 2002 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.