DPI Weblog

Today is World AIDS Day, and the theme of the celebration is simply “leadership.”

 In a world that has seen AIDS for 25 years, critical leadership is required from all sectors to stop the epidemic. Many lessons have been learnt, yet the solution to the myriad problems faced by communities are yet to be adequately addressed, and these have remained the key drivers of the AIDS epidemic. Poverty, unemployment, poor education services and hunger, these need to be addressed if the world must make progress to stop AIDS.

 In 2001, I had began to get myself involved in Community initiatives to address teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among young people in Buguma, my home town. I was 21 at the time and I had very little experience but my passion was the key diver of my actions.

 Six years after, having been involved in many initiatives beyond Buguma, Rivers State, Nigeria and Africa, I am again asking myself, what has happened to the work that had been done in Buguma? Having completed a three year term as the Executive Director of Development Partnership International, I am hoping to go back to Buguma to provide the leadership that is needed to address the many issues with the young people in my own community. Access to contraception, knowledge of HIV/AIDS, access to friendly health care services and leadership. These issues need to be addressed and quickly!

 I am very enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute my part to address AIDS in Buguma and by extension Rivers State! I hope that this opportunity will be as rewarding as in the begining!

Three types of HIV/AIDS epidemics are identifiable: low-level, concentrated and generalised epidemics. Concentrated epidemcs are presently dominant in Eastern Europe and South East Asia as well as some countries in the Caribean. The high risk groups; sex workers, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men, have been stigmatised and in some cases persecuted as a result of conflicts with morality, religion and the laws in their respective countries. 

In countries like Jamaica, MSM have particularly been targeted and have even been killed in some cases as a result of their sexual orientation. While I am not in the position to say what the causes of these might be, it can be deduced that the stigma is as a result of these conflicts between sex-work, same sex relationships, injection drug use and, morality and law. 

I am writing this email to pose the question to this group which way programmers should go. Should they respect laws/norms against injection drug use, sex work or same sex relations as the case may be, and not initiate programmes to tackle the epidemic among these populations? Should they ignore these norms and prescriptions and initiate new programmes that will effectively stem the tide of the epidemic? If programmes are to be initiated in countries where the law/ norms do not allow these practices, what are the best strategies that will work? 

It will be indeed very helpful if these issues can be addressed in this group.

Recently an interesting scientific finding was posted on the BBC website. A longstanding theory of how HIV slowly depletes the body’s capacity to fight infection is wrong, scientists say. HIV attacks human immune cells, called T helper cells. Loss of these cells is gradual, often taking many years. (more…)

Announcement for The Third Nigerian Youth Leadership Summit

We are pleased to announce the third Nigerian Youth Leadership Summit holding in Yenagoa, September 4-5, 2006. The NYLS is an annual capacity building meeting and intergenerational dialogue which brings together young leaders from across Nigeria, the international community and the Diaspora to discuss key national development issues, in order to evolve solutions and make commitments for affirmative community action. The theme of this year’s summit is: Youth Leadership in HIV/AIDS Research for Development.

(more…)

Nigerian Youth Leaders promote investment in education to tackle HIV/AIDS by Gabrielle Trenbath

July 2006 saw the second Nigerian Youth Leadership Summit in Enugu. Since young people account for 60% infected with HIV/AIDS, focusing on health and development seemed to be an important issues for them to address.

For 4 days in early July, delegates grappled with the effects that HIV/AIDS had on their country and potential solutions. Apart from skills development and sessions with eminent speakers, the summit issued the Enugu Youth Declaration on Health and Development.

(more…)