Leadership (Abuja)

Nigeria: World Bank Salutes Nigeria Over Response to HIV/Aids Challenges

By Abiodun Oluwarotimi, 26 July 2012

The world bank has lauded the efforts of the Nigerian government to rise to the challenges being posed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

According to David Wilson, World Bank Global HIV/AIDS Program Director, "the battle of AIDS will be won or lost in a small number of countries, and few are more important than Nigeria,". "We salute Nigeria's leadership for rising to this immense challenge."

he added that in the suburbs of Abuja, Nigeria, dedicated implementers of HIV programs are meticulously mapping the area's HIV epidemic with colourful dots, symbolizing the locations of most-at-risk populations.

The world bank's official also said that the global bank has worked with 120 countries, investing nearly $4.6 billion to better understand their epidemics and develop better prioritized, strategic plans, and is collaborating with high-incidence countries like Nigeria to determine the optimal mix of interventions to avert as many infections as possible.

According to him, this means not only mapping at-risk populations, but also designing, implementing and evaluating nationwide responses based on the intelligence agencies are collecting across countries.

This work is part of a global initiative to improve HIV program science, and it's not limited to Nigeria. Three other countries, including Kenya, India and Pakistan, are part of the first wave of an initiative sponsored by the World Bank and the U.S. government.

The World Bank is supporting Nigeria's efforts to map the epidemic in seven of its states with the highest disease burden, and is working closely with the Global Fund, UNAIDS, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Society for Family Health to map other states.

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  • abiamone in London
    Jul 27 2012, 09:37
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    While it may be patronising to salute Nigeria for her efforts towards the eradication of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, it is pertinent to remind the world that AIDS originated from the sodomy of the West. What about the medical problem that is peculiar to Nigeria, i.e. malaria? Had malaria been a Western disease, I am sure that by now a vaccine would have been found for it. The West has been fond of double standard and selfishness for so long. As the world contracts into a small, global village, the West will have to live and let live.