One individual, who prefers only to be called Franklin, is one of the thousands of African migrants who have made the perilous journey to the Canary Islands in small boats.

The basic story that he told me at my request at interviewing him was that “I would rather die trying to make it to Europe than to stay in this country.”

Franklin was unfortunately caught and deported back to Ghana in his bid to make it to Europe. He is a student of one of the universities in Ghana.

12th December 2007, marks another day for the remembrance of migrants contribution to the development of the world. I took this opportunity to interview Franklin, on the ordeal that he had to go through in his desire to make it to Europe.

This is how Franklin started; My name is Franklin, I am 25 years old. I tried to get to the Canary Islands once before but it did not work out for me, I have been caught and now I am back to the zero point. But I will try again.

The journey was one of the most frightening experiences that I have ever had in my life. I had nothing to drink for two days.

Life in Ghana is a pain. I have no future, because even after school there is no guaranteed job for me. I need to feed my family. I think life will be easy out there in Europe. I believe I did what any father or brother would do to protect his family or his life for the future.

My parents died during the Dabgon conflict crises in the Northern Region of Ghana when I was young and now even at age 25, I don’t remember a day which I have not struggled to eat.

I left Brong Ahafo, in Ghana on 12th January, 2005 and that was how the journey began. I was in the company of two of my friends who whom I had convinced into this whole thing. We traveled on land through Togo, through to Benin, Nigeria, Niger Republic, Libya, Algeria and then to Morocco.

In each of these towns we had to work. In some instances we had to work as head porters.

A friend whom we met in Morocco who was also a head porter told us that we will have to meet an acquaintance of his who could assist us to get to the Canary Islands. This was after we had made known our intentions to him. Despite his advice for us, on the need to stop this journey, we were burnt on getting to our “dreamland”.

Upon meeting the man we had to give him 600 euros before the three of us could join him to the desert where some people including young migrants like us were waiting for their turn to get into a boat.
At long last it got to our turn and it seemed like we were making it to our “dreamland”. One person among us began singing a song which we all joined. It really kept our souls and our spirits alive. After many hours on the water, I was nauseated. I thought it was just me feeling this, but within a few minutes my two friends had all vomited.

After sometime a wave which I describe as a boisterous one arose. Everyone was praying and shouting to his or her God for help. Some people began to cry.

Its seemed our God had heard our prayers. The waters calmed just like the time Jesus commanded the winds and the waves to calm down whilst he was at sea with his disciples.

We were at sea for about another five hours.

We were rescued by the coast guards (police) as we got near the coastline. Some of us started to kiss the ground when we finally touched land.

When I later looked around to see my two friends, I realized that one of them had died in the boat. I wept bitterly for that. My other friend also had some nasty salt sores on his body which was caused by wet clothing rubbing continuously for many days.

For those of us who were quite healthy we were held in internment centers for up to 40 days, and from there we were sent back to our countries of origin.

Now I will have to start all over. My plight is worse. I have started to save some money to make another journey.

This was the story of Franklin. After spending about 2 hours with Franklin for this interview, I began to realize how people like Franklin would go every length to satisfy their dreams.

GLOBAL PRIORITIES
Good or Service: Annual Cost ($US billions)



What it DOES cost:

Cosmetics in the United States: 8
Ice cream in Europe : 11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States: 12
Business entertainment in Japan: 35
Cigarettes in Europe: 50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe: 105
Narcotic drugs in the world: 400
Military spending in the world: 780

What it WOULD cost:

Basic education for everyone in the world: 6
Water and sanitation for everyone in the world: 9
Reproductive health for all women in the world: 12
Basic health and nutrition for EVERYONE IN THE WORLD: 13

Now you know what will YOU do about it?

‘SAVE CHILDREN NOW’
Is a CALL to people of ALL NATIONS and ALL RELIGIONS, or WITHOUT RELIGION,
To WORK TOGETHER as ‘ONE’ for this MISSION!
THE SOLUTION that reaches out to ALL LEADERS of ALL NATIONS,
To SAVE and PROTECT CHILDREN NOW!!!
Names of leaders it reaches out to HERE


THE ‘ONLY’ SOLUTION IS SIMPLE:

The estimated population for the United States of America is 286 196 812,
for Canada 32 442 237, and for China 1 313 973 700.
If WE ALL COULD GIVE ONE DOLLAR,
WE WOULD RAISE 1 632 612 749 DOLLARS TOGETHER!!!
ONE day, ONE Dollar! Makes 1 632 612 749 Dollars TOGETHER!
Can you believe that…?!
That is ONLY from THREE countries!

When the whole world does that:

ALL CHILDREN can get FOOD, HEALTHCARE and EDUCATION.
It only takes about 288 USD PER YEAR, to sponsor a child!
(330 CAD, 237 EUR, 2305 CNY or the same in your currency)
Saving children should never be based on donations!
Every child deserves the right to live!
If the world is wrong, we need to CORRECT it.
If we are able to OVER feed people in jail,
Then we should not let innocent children starve to DEATH!

This is a call to EVERYONE to take a stand for children TODAY, and
END child starvation HERE and NOW !!!

THE SOLUTION is about sharing and caring for our children as ONE Nation!
Save and protect ALL children!
People of ALL NATIONS that earn MORE then enough,
pay a SMALL tax that is reserved for these children ONLY!
About 30-50 USD per year.
(34-57 CAD, 24-40 EUR, 240-400 CNY or the same amount in your currency.)
Dependent on their income: the HIGH income earners will pay more, and
OMITTED FOR THE PEOPLE WITH LOWER INCOMES!!!
If you see how much ONE day, ONE Dollar can do, from ONLY three countries,
then you know 50 Dollars from people from the WHOLE world,
saves not ONE, but ALL CHILDREN!
TOGETHER, we raise BILLIONS!!!
It is very simple:
If we work together as ONE, hunger is GONE!

When the world uses THE SOLUTION:

Hunger will STOP!
AIDS that causes now thousands of AIDS orphans can be STOPPED!
Africa will finally get a NEW CHANCE to RISE above poverty!
As well as so many other areas of the world in need!
If we care for our children and treat them RIGHT, we’re in for a BIG CHANGE!
A PEACEFULL WORLD!
These children, the NEW GENERATION can finally BREAK OUT OF THIS CYCLE, making them free to build on their own, a better and INDEPENDENT community, that they will pass on to children of future generations!
THE WHOLE WORLD GETS A NEW START!
With more loving and educated people,
who will ensure our future and create a BALANCE in this world!

The world is OUT of balance now, and has been FOR WAY TOO LONG!
We have created this!
It was not meant to be, but it is.
So people, it is time we DO something!
BEFORE it is irreversible!
AIDS is spreading fast!
Soon a whole continent will be extinguished!
Our children are NEXT, if we do not start caring about each other!
It is OUR turn to DO something!
While we STILL have the chance!
It is time to start thinking GLOBAL!
WE, AND ALL OUR LEADERS NEED TO THINK GLOBAL,
AND WORK TOGETHER FOR THE ONE NATION!
THE WORLD AND IT’S CHILDREN!

HELP THIS PROJECT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

This is a Message from God, The Creator, or The Name that you give Him in your religion.
He loves you.
This is the world in your hands,
He will Lead you too!

THE MESSAGE IS:
PEOPLE OF THE FOUR CORNERS, BE “ONE” AND SAVE YOUR CHILDREN!!!

You are the corner.
Send “The Message” OUT in the world!

The fact that you save ONE child by passing this project on to 9 people,
is that 6 of the 9 people will vote for THE SOLUTION.
It takes about 6 people to save a child when the world uses THE SOLUTION.
Leave this part up to us and our leaders. Or join us.
YOU do the right thing TODAY!

An idea to raise money NOW for the starving!
Start the “ONE day ONE Dollar”! For your town, district, country!

NORTH CENTRAL ZONE YOUTH POSITION PAPER TO THE NEEDS 2 CONSULTATIVE MEETING IN MAKURDI


DEFINATION OF YOUTH
As stated by the African youth Charter and the Nigerian Youth Policy, a youth is someone between the ages of 18 and 35. Hence a Nigerian youth will be someone between those ages and who is a citizen of Nigeria

At a growth rate of 2.8% per annum, as at the last count, the nation’s population stood at 140 million in 2006. Based on the last population census conducted in 2006, the nation’s population is predominantly young i.e. one out of every four (4) Nigerians is under 25 years of age. This puts the youth population at about 55% of the total population.

NEEDS

The National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) was developed and hope to achieve Employment Generation, Poverty Reduction, Wealth Creation and Value Re-orientation. It is also recognised youth as active and volatile. Areas of interventions targeting youths included among others education, skills acquisition, protection and control of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections However, NEEDS did not acknowledge young people as important stakeholders, capable and who can be very productive if the right situations and environment prevailed.

Youths in the North Central Zone of Nigeria feel that the National Economic Empowerments and Development Strategy 2 (NEEDS 2) should seek to achieve;

1. As a top priority seek in increase access to affordable health care services including sexual and reproductive health information and education
2. Empowerment of young people with life skills to help them achieve their dreams, think critically, negotiate risky situations, and express themselves freely
3. Encourage and provide opportunities for young people actively and meaningfully participate in development issues.
4. Hold high their rights especially girls, handicapped and other marginalized groups

And as such recommend that

1. The Language of the NEEDS should be simplified.
2. The NEEDS should state specifically the establishment of youth related mechanism i.e. The Nigerian Youth Expert Panel to work with monitoring committees on the NEEDS and SEEDS to ensure that youth specific indicators are being implemented and track level of success.
3. The Establishment of a NEEDS Trust Fund where the private sector will contribute into and 50% of such funds be used for the development of young people
4. Government at all levels should provide free and accessible education of good quality for primary and secondary schools
5. Being in an ICT age, ICT education should be encouraged and be integrated at all level of education
5. Make Micro Finance more accessible to young people to enable them in starting
private businesses.
6 Reserve quotas for youth participation in political and policy development processes
a. Include youth in delegations to national and international meetings on issues affecting them.
b. Engage youth as professionals and not just as recipients of agendas

NIGERIA HIV/AIDS SUMMIT

Aimed at truly moving the national response to new programming levels of effectiveness, the summit will bring together all local and international implementing partners, donors, government, the organized private sector and technical experts involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The summit will be used to build consensus on key issues of common interest, share lessons learned/best practices and make recommendation to further strengthen the national response.

The Nigeria Summit on HIV/AIDS is expected to hold from April 1st to 5th, 2007 at the International Conference Center, Abuja.

THEME OF THE Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit
"Beyond Boundaries, Strengthening the National HIV/AIDS Response"
GOAL OF THE Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit
“To Strengthen the National Response”
Objectives
The main objectives of the Summit are;
• To provide a platform for stakeholders to build consensus around issues and challenges concerning the National response.
• To review and generate issues at all levels that will significantly inform policy formulation.
• To critically review the Co-ordination mechanism of the National Response and make appropriate recommendations.
• To review and clarify roles and responsibilities of the various key stakeholders at different levels.
• To provide avenue for sharing lessons learnt, best practices and challenges.
• To strengthen networking across boundaries and among stakeholders working in HIV/AIDS.
• To review and share lessons on the applicability of the National Strategic Framework.
• To build consensus on the mechanism for coordinating donor funding and support.
Expected Outcomes
• A national consensus document streamlining issues, challenges and priorities concerning the national response.
• A list of generated issues to inform policy formulation.
• The co-ordination mechanism reviewed with appropriate recommendations.
• A clearly documented and delineated roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders.
• A document on best practices, lessons learnt and challenges of the national response by geopolitical zones produced.
• A formal network of all stakeholders working in HIV/AIDS established.
• Agreements reached on identified gaps on the National Strategic Framework.
• Consensus reached on a mechanism to coordinate donor funding and support.
Registration
participants (individual or group) are ONLY DEEMED registered AFTER the payment of the appropriate registration fees.
Registration Fees
The various registration categories and fees are outlined below
Category Fees
Individual NGN20,000.00 per participant
Group: a group is considered to be a minimum of ten (10) individuals from the same organisation or having the same sponsoring organisation NGN18,000.00 per participant within a group i.e. there is a 10% discount on the individual participant fee
Registration Forms
Individual Registration forms can be obtained from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit website or Secretariat.
Group Registration forms can be obtained from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit website or Secretariat.
Scholarship
The Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit aims to support summit participants who would not otherwise be able to attend. A number of funding agencies would be contacted to provide support to the Scholarship Programme for participants this is to expand participation of participants with financial barriers to attendance.
Scholarship forms can be obtained from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit website or Secretariat.
Scholarship applications will be reviewed by the technical sub-committee. Priority would be given to applicants whose participation would enhance programming in their communities/ organizations, applicant’s involvement with vulnerable groups and communities (resource poor communities) and their commitment to transfer knowledge obtained from participating in the summit back to those communities.

The scholarship criteria will include:
• Selection of submitted abstract and acceptance as either Oral or Poster
• Youth, Women and PLWHA’s who are confirmed to be participating in any of the summits programmes, sessions or whose abstracts have been accepted for presentation.
• Youth strongly involved in youth intervention programmes in their communities
Applying for a Scholarship
Deadline for scholarship application would be March 23, 2007
Any further questions concerning the Scholarship Programme should be addressed to scholarships@nigeriahivaidssummit.org

The number of scholarship to be awarded is limited; therefore, participants are strongly encouraged to seek other funding as well.
Note: For more information on the summit please visit the summit website as shown below.
Summit website: www.nigeriahivaidssummit.org
Summit Secretariat: National Action Committee on AIDS
Plot 823, Ralph Shodeinde Street
Central Business District
Abuja.

I saw this and loved it and felt i should put it up here for the benefits of those who are not GYCA members, David
For Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, the ideal of valuing all
human life equally began to jar against reality some years ago, when
he read an article about diseases in the developing world and came
across the statistic that half a million children die every year from
rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children. He
had never heard of rotavirus. "How could I never have heard of
something that kills half a million children every year?" he asked
himself. He then learned that in developing countries, millions of
children die from diseases that have been eliminated, or virtually
eliminated, in the United States. That shocked him because he assumed
that, if there are vaccines and treatments that could save lives,
governments would be doing everything possible to get them to the
people who need them. As Gates told a meeting of the World Health
Assembly in Geneva last year, he and his wife, Melinda, "couldn't
escape the brutal conclusion that — in our world today — some lives
are seen as worth saving and others are not." They said to themselves,
"This can't be true." But they knew it was."

.....
"More important than questions about motives are questions about
whether there is an obligation for the rich to give, and if so, how
much they should give. A few years ago, an African-American cabdriver
taking me to the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington asked
me if I worked at the bank. I told him I did not but was speaking at a
conference on development and aid. He then assumed that I was an
economist, but when I said no, my training was in philosophy, he asked
me if I thought the U.S. should give foreign aid. When I answered
affirmatively, he replied that the government shouldn't tax people in
order to give their money to others. That, he thought, was robbery.
When I asked if he believed that the rich should voluntarily donate
some of what they earn to the poor, he said that if someone had worked
for his money, he wasn't going to tell him what to do with it.
At that point we reached our destination. Had the journey continued, I
might have tried to persuade him that people can earn large amounts
only when they live under favorable social circumstances, and that
they don't create those circumstances by themselves. I could have
quoted Warren Buffett's acknowledgment that society is responsible for
much of his wealth. "If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh
or Peru," he said, "you'll find out how much this talent is going to
produce in the wrong kind of soil." The Nobel Prize-winning economist
and social scientist Herbert Simon estimated that "social capital" is
responsible for at least 90 percent of what people earn in wealthy
societies like those of the United States or northwestern Europe. By
social capital Simon meant not only natural resources but, more
important, the technology and organizational skills in the community,
and the presence of good government. These are the foundation on which
the rich can begin their work. "On moral grounds," Simon added, "we
could argue for a flat income tax of 90 percent." Simon was not, of
course, advocating so steep a rate of tax, for he was well aware of
disincentive effects. But his estimate does undermine the argument
that the rich are entitled to keep their wealth because it is all a
result of their hard work. If Simon is right, that is true of at most
10 percent of it."

Control Arms campaign: UN General Assembly votes for historic Arms Trade Treaty proposal

Control Arms campaign: Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).


Work on an international Arms Trade Treaty will begin immediately following a historic vote in the UN General Assembly today, which saw 153 governments supporting the proposed Treaty to prevent international arms transfers that fuel conflict, poverty and serious human rights violations. Only the United States voted against the proposal, and 24 governments abstained.

The UN General Assembly vote comes just three years after the launch of the Control Arms campaign, which has seen over a million people in 170 countries calling for a Treaty.

Three quarters of governments [153] voted in favour of the proposal, which was also supported by an overwhelming majority of governments in the UN General Assembly’s First Committee in October.

There was also strong support from the governments of Europe as well as the Pacific and Latin America .

“Significant support for an Arms Trade Treaty has come from some of the world’s most gun-affected regions; this indicates not only widespread recognition of the problem but also widespread political will to take action," said Rebecca Peters , Director of IANSA.

The US remained the only government to vote against the proposal, despite a recent appeal from 14 US Senators to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the Administration to reconsider its position.

“My current visit to Lebanon , Israel and the Occupied Territories has allowed me to see first hand the devastating consequences on civilians of the unregulated trade in weapons. It is vital that governments recognise the urgent need to turn this vote into meaningful action and ensure that a legally binding treaty on conventional arms becomes a reality,” said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

One of the first tasks for the incoming UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, will be to begin canvassing the views of all UN Member States on the proposed Arms Trade Treaty in order to report back to the General Assembly in late 2007. A group of governmental experts from around the world will then be established to examine the issue in detail and report back to the UN General Assembly in 2008.

"Today, we have seen an overwhelming majority of the world’s governments accepting the need for an Arms Trade Treaty to prevent weapons sales that fuel conflict and poverty. That is a historic step. When the Control Arms campaign began in 2003 only 5 governments supported the concept of an Arms Trade Treaty. Today there are 153. Now governments must follow through and achieve a strong, effective Treaty. Every day that they delay is another day when thousands of lives are wrecked by armed violence," said
Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International.

Notes to Editors

About the campaign
The idea for the establishment of globally binding rules on arms transfers began in 1995 with a few Nobel Peace Laureates including Amnesty International and Dr Oscar Arias. The Control Arms campaign was launched by Oxfam International, Amnesty International and IANSA in 2003 and so far enjoys the support of over a million campaigners worldwide.

Senators Appeal to US Administration
On 1 December 2006 the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein of California sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking for the US Administration to change its position on the Arms Trade Treaty resolution.

The letter was signed by the following 14 Democratic Senators:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein ( California ), in-coming Chairwoman of Senate Appropriations Committee on Military Construction and Veteran Affairs,
Sen. Patrick Leahy ( Vermont ), in-coming Chairman of the Senate, Judiciary Committee and Appropriations Subcommittee on the State
Department and Foreign Operations;
Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vermont);
Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois), In-coming Majority Whip;
Sen. John Kerry (Massachusetts);
Sen. Carl Levin (Michigan), in-coming Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee;
Sen. Barbara Boxer (California), member of the Foreign Relations Committee;
Sen. Daniel Akaka (Hawaii), in-coming Chairman of Veteran Affairs Committee;
Sen. Frank Lautenberg ( New Jersey );
Sen. Byron Dorgan (North Dakota);
Sen. Russ Feingold (Wisconsin), member of the Foreign Relations Committee;
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (Maryland);
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (New Mexico), in-coming Chairman of Senate Committee on the Environment;
Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa).

Michael Carter, Friday, November 17, 2006
The sense of failure surrounding HIV prevention efforts in Sub-Saharan
Africa is unjustified, as there has been a significant increase in
recent
years in the proportion of young women reporting both condom use and
sexual
abstinence, according to a study published in the November 18th edition
of
The Lancet. The authors found that a motivation for increased use of
condoms
was often contraception and argue that “programmes promoting family
planning
and HIV prevention have common interests.”
The continuing spread of HIV in low- and middle-income countries has
led
many researchers and policy makers to become pessimistic about
approaches
adopted to HIV prevention and to engage in bitter and, often
ideological,
debates about the merits of various approaches to HIV prevention.
In much of the world a so-called ABC (A for abstinence; B for be
faithful; C
for condoms) approach to HIV prevention has been adopted. Investigators
from
the London School of Hygiene and the World Health Organization
conducted an
analysis of results obtained from almost 133,000 single women aged
between
15 and 24 years in 18 Sub-Saharan Africa through national Demographic
and
Health surveys to determine changes in levels of abstinence or condom
use
between 1990 and 2004.
The investigators focused on changing levels of primary abstinence
(virginity); secondary abstinence (no sex within the previous three
months);
and use of contraception, including condoms, in the previous three
months.
Overall, there was no real shift in the period of analysis in the
number of
young women reporting themselves virgins – the increased levels of
virginity
found in seven countries being offset by falls in reported virginity in
six
other countries. Only in Cameroon and Ghana were there 10% or greater
increases in the proportion of self-reported virgins.
The level of secondary abstinence did increase from a median of 44% to
49%.
The increase in secondary abstinence was statistically significant in
seven
countries, and exceeded 10% in five. In seven countries, however,
abstinence
trends were erratic, and in Burkina Faso, the proportion of women
reporting
secondary abstinence actually fell significantly (p = 0.003).
Of the women reporting any sex within the previous three months, the
proportion saying that they used any contraception increased from 33%
to
37%. Use of less effective methods of contraception, such as periodic
abstinence, fell significantly, but the proportion of women saying that
they
used highly effective methods of birth control, such as oral
contraceptives,
remained stable.
The investigators then looked at condom use. They found that condom use
increased from a median of 5% to 19%. This rise in condom use was
statistically significant in 13 countries and over 10% in nine
countries.
Interestingly, increased levels of condom use did not appear to be
linked to
the severity of the local HIV epidemic, with countries in west Africa
recording the largest increase in condom use, with use in the
harder-hit
eastern and southern African countries remaining lower.
When the investigators looked at self reported condom use for most
recent
intercourse, they found that this increased from 20% to 28%, with
significant increases seen in seven countries, with six seeing an
increase
of above 10%. The authors point out that, across the study period, this
amounts to an annualised increase of around 1-4% a year, squarely in
line
with the uptake of all forms of contraception in the industrialised
world
between 1965 and 1998.
"Behavioural change on a large scale tends to take time, since it needs
to
be preceded by a period in which unfamiliar messages become assimilated
into
local social networks," the authors comment.
The investigators wished to try and further understand women’s
motivations
for using condoms. A median of 59% of women said that their primary
motivation for using condoms was pregnancy prevention.
“We noted a substantial rise in the use of condoms reported by young,
sexually active single women in Sub-Saharan Africa”, write the
investigators. They add, “our findings suggest that at least 60% of
single
women who used a condom for most recent coitus did so mainly, or partly
for
prevention of pregnancy.” They believe that this finding could have
important implications for the way condom use is promoted in HIV
prevention
campaigns. They write, “a young woman might find it easier to negotiate
use
of condoms with a partner for prevention of pregnancy than for
protection
against HIV transmission.”
"Fewer than 10% of sexually active single women stated that they would
like
to have a child in the next 12 months [in the DHS surveys]," the
authors
note, highlighting the fact that abortion is illegal in many African
countries and that unsafe abortion is more frequent in Africa than any
other
part of the world.
"The fear of unwanted pregnancy might be as great as the fear of AIDS
for
many young women in West and Central Africa," they go on.
The investigators emphasise that levels of abstinence changed less than
condom use, but there was an increase in secondary abstinence that they
attribute to more cautious partner selection, reduced frequency of sex,
or a
combination of both.
“Our central conclusion is that the sense of failure pervading HIV
prevention efforts in Africa is unjustified and that investment in
condom
promotion and marketing have had an appreciable effect, at least for
young
single women.”
Reference
Cleland J et al. Sexual abstinence, contraception, and condom use by
young
African women: a secondary analysis of survey data. The Lancet 368:
1788 –
1793, 2006.

With the broad message: STOP STIGMA!! STOP AIDS!!, it was an eventful
outing for the Constituency Coordinating Entities (CCEs) on HIV and
AIDS in Nigeria as they held a successful WALK for ACCOUNTABILITY in the
nation’s capital city, Abuja, to mark this year’s World AIDS Day last
Friday being December 1 2006.

The procession of advocates which was led by the leadership of the
CCEs, UNAIDS and the Nigeria Labour Congress, moved from the Eagle Square
to the National Assembly, and then on to the Federal Capital Territory
Administration (FCTA).

At the National Assembly, the procession was received by a
representative of the Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly, on behalf of
the leadership of the National Assembly. He apologized for the absence
of the principal officers of both chambers whom he explained went to
their respective constituencies to revalidate their mandate at the
primaries of PDP which was taking place same weekend across the country.

Mr. Ayo Ipinmoye, the Executive Secretary of CISHAN who spoke on
behalf of the CCEs, thanked him for receiving the procession well. He
explained that the mission of the CCEs to the National Assembly was to
sensitize the leadership and members of the National Assembly on stigma and
discrimination being suffered by PLWHA and PABA, and its implications
for the national response to HIV and AIDS pandemic; and to solicit their
support in ensuring that an act prohibiting discrimination against
PLWHA and PABA is put in place before the end of the present administration
come May 2007.

Maureen Onyia, who represented Comrade Adams Oshiomole, President
Nigeria Labour Congress, added the voice of labour movement to this
request, pointing out that the issue of stigma and discrimination against
PLWHA and PABA is very rife in the workplace and is affecting workforce in
a most negative manner. She went ahead to state that the President of
NLC just sent in a letter to the leadership of the National Assembly 2
days back asking them to legislate against discrimination being meted
out to PLWHA and PABA in the workplace and the society at large, on the
basis of the sero status.

Highpoint of the event was the display of a pop up banner containing
a letter from the CCEs, by Dr. Pat Matemilola, Coordinator NEPWHAN. The
pop up banner which was placed right inside the lobby of the National
Assembly Complex contains a message appealing to the Distinguished
Senators and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives to support
the passage of the anti HIV based discrimination bill, which is being
finalized by the federal ministry of Justice for submission to the
National Assembly soon. Dr. Matemilola, on behalf of the CCEs, also presented
letters addressed to the 109 Distinguished Senators and 360 Honourable
Members of the House of Representatives, highlighting forms and
contexts of stigma and discrimination being suffered by a PLWHA. The letter
also informed them of the status of the draft bill with the federal
ministry of Justice and appealed to them to ensure speedy passage of the
bill, when it gets to the floor of both chambers.

At the FCTA complex, the procession was received by the Secretary of
Health, FCT, who represented the Honourable Minister of FCT, Mallam
Nasir el-Rufai, whom we were told would have loved to be with us but was
called away by a higher authority. Dr. Matemilola, who spoke on behalf
of the CCEs, recounted the support the Honourable Minister has lent to
the Civil Society especially NEPWHAN and PLWHAs in FCT. He went on to
present the demand of the CCEs as allocation of piece of land and/or
building that will accommodate the CCEs. He stressed that this is very
crucial against the background that the present CSO building is located in
a residential area and as such the CCEs may be asked to move any time
from now. The other reason, according to him, is that the rent which was
paid by the UNAIDS will soon expire and the CCEs have come of age to
own a building of their own which will also ensure sustainability of the
Civil Society response to HIV and AIDS, and development in FCT
and the country at large.

In his response, the representative of the Honourable Minister
expressed joy at the cordial relationship which exist between the CCEs and
the office of the Honourable Minister, and went on to assure the CCEs
that their request will be conveyed to the Honourable Minister as soon as
possible.

For the CCEs, it was a very fruitful experience and at the same time
a call to duty for all to brace up for the challenges ahead, especially
with regards to advocacy for keeping all the promises made within the
context of HIV and AIDS response at the national, regional and global
levels.

I wish to extend appreciation to all those who denied themselves of
the luxury of relaxing in their homes to come out en-mass to add their
voice to the demands of the CCEs on HIV and AIDS in Nigeria. Nancy
Snauwaert of UNAIDS deserves particular mention here for persevering with us
all through the march.

This activity was funded by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and
others through an International Council of AIDS Service organizations
(ICASO) global project titled ‘Prevention and Treatment Advocacy Project’
(PTAP). The project is coordinated in Africa by the African Council of
AIDS Service Organizations (AfriCASO) secretariat in Dakar, and
implemented in Nigeria by Network of People living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria
(NEPWHAN) and Interfaith HIV/AIDS Coalition Nigeria (INTERFAITH).
FIDSON Healthcare, a leading indigenous manufacturers of ARV is also
supported this activity.

Check this out, is thisnot wonderful,
The village doctor's diagnosis was dire: Marium
needed immediate surgery to replace two heart valves.
The 28-year-old mother of three said she was confused and terrified.
She
could barely imagine open-heart surgery. She had no idea how her family
of
farm laborers could pay for an operation that would cost $4,000.
The next day, Sept. 16, her father went to see Mahbubul Ambia, who had
recently installed the only Internet connection for 20 miles in far
northeastern Bangladesh. Ambia sat down at a computer, connected to the
Internet by a cable plugged into his cellphone, and searched for
cardiac
specialists in Dhaka, the capital, 140 miles away. He found one and
made an
appointment for Marium, who like many people here goes by just one
name. The
specialist examined her and said she needed only a routine surgical
procedure that cost $500.
"I felt a very deep sense of relief," Marium said.
Villages in one of the world's poorest countries, long isolated by
distance
and deprivation, are getting their first Internet access, all connected
over
cellphones. And in the process, millions of people who have no
land-line
telephones, and often lack electricity and running water, in recent
months
have gained access to services considered basic in richer countries:
weather
reports, e-mail, even a doctor's second opinion.
Cellphones have become a new bridge across the digital divide between
the
world's rich and poor, as innovators use the explosive growth of
cellphone
networks to connect people to the Internet.
Bangladesh now has about 16 million cellphone subscribers -- and 2
million
new users each month -- compared with just 1 million land-line phones
to
serve a population of nearly 150 million people.
Since February, Internet centers have opened in well over 100
Bangladeshi
villages, and a total of 500 are scheduled to be open by the end of the
year. All of them are in places where there are no land lines and the
connections will be made exclusively over cellphone networks.
Before February, analysts said, only 370,000 Bangladeshis had access to
the
Internet. But now millions of villagers have access to information and
services that had been available only by walking or taking long and
expensive bus rides, or were beyond their reach altogether.
People now download job applications and music, see school exam
results,
check news and crop prices, make inexpensive Internet phone calls or
use Web
cameras to see relatives. Students from villages with few books now
have
access to online dictionaries and encyclopedias.
"We could not imagine where this technology has taken us in such a
short
time," said Mufizur Rahman, 48, a grocery shop owner in Charkhai, a
town of
about 40,000 people whose streets are filled with colorful
three-wheeled
bicycle rickshaws, and where there are almost no cars.
"For the First World, this is minor," he said. "But this is a big thing
for
us."
The Internet centers are being set up by GrameenPhone, a cellphone
provider
partly owned by the Grameen Bank, which shared this year's Nobel Peace
Prize
with its founder, Muhammad Yunus.
The centers are building on a cellphone network created over the past
decade
by a Grameen Bank program that helped provide more than 250,000
cellphones
in villages. When that program started in 1997, only 1.5 percent of the
population had access to a telephone; that has risen to more than 10
percent.
Staying Connected
Goats grazed on litter outside Ambia's little Internet shop in
Charkhai,
where merchants sell bright red tomatoes and honking ducks in the
crowded
central market.
Bangladesh, where the United Nations says average annual income is
about
$440, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with
its
150 million people crammed into an area roughly the size of Iowa.
Ambia's shop sits wedged between a stall where men sell huge sacks of
rice
and one selling cheap plastic shoes. By midmorning on a steamy
September
day, at least 20 people stood in line waiting to use one of Ambia's two
Chinese-made computers.
A woman named Aleya, 55, sat down on a small plastic chair and handed
Ambia
a scrap of paper with a London phone number. She said that her
18-year-old
daughter was getting married and that she was calling her uncle in
England
to ask him to help pay for it. Aleya said her husband is a construction
worker who earns about $70 a month, barely enough to feed their five
children.
Ambia dialed the number on the keyboard of his computer, connected by a
cable to a Motorola cellphone. The call connected using VoIP (Voice
over
Internet Protocol) technology, which allows calls to be placed from a
computer to another computer or a telephone anywhere in the world --
for
little or no cost.
VoIP technology is growing rapidly. One of the biggest brands, Skype,
was
founded in August 2003 and now has 136 million registered users.
Companies
such as Vonage and Yahoo also offer the service and are expanding
exponentially.
Aleya picked up the small telephone handset connected to the computer
and
her face lit up. Her uncle, who owns a restaurant in London, promised
that
he'd make arrangements to send money for the wedding.
The five-minute call cost 8 Bangladeshi taka, about 11 cents.
"An 8-taka call has earned me thousands," Aleya said with a broad
smile.
Before Ambia's center opened in February, Aleya said, she would have
called
her uncle on a borrowed cellphone at a cost of more than $2, her
husband's
daily wage.
The only other option would have been to take a bumpy bus to Sylhet, a
city
about 20 miles down the road, to make the call from an Internet cafe
there.
She said rutted roads and ancient buses making frequent stops often
turned
that into an all-day errand that would cost her nearly $3.
As Aleya spoke on the phone, Komoruddin, 50, was waiting to make a call
to
his son, an electrician living in Saudi Arabia. Komoruddin said he and
his
other son and five daughters live largely on the money his son sends
home.
"I used to have to make a plan and spend a whole day to make a call.
Now I
can just come in here and relax," he said. "I never thought I'd see
anything
like this here. Some people still don't believe it."
Cyber Vows
Ambia, a lanky 26-year-old, said he was running a small shop doing
cellphone
repairs when he heard about GrameenPhone's plan to create hundreds of
village Internet centers.
"I love browsing the Internet, but I used to have to go to Sylhet to do
it,"
he said. "When I saw the opportunity to combine browsing and business,
I
took it."
He said his business is growing fast, fueled by villagers' delight at
being
able to connect with a world beyond theirs. Ambia also sells cellphones
in
his shop, and each month he signs up about 500 new customers, who pay
about
$4 to activate a phone.
Ambia said Internet access is a logical next step in Charkhai's digital
evolution. In recent months, he noted, local people have been making
long
walks through the fields and crossing wide rivers to log into
cyberspace.
Before, getting a passport application could take weeks, or would
require a
bus trip to Sylhet. News of overseas job opportunities used to come by
word
of mouth. But now people browse online employment bulletin boards, then
use
the center's scanner to submit completed applications for jobs that
before
they might never have known about.
Students cram into the two-room center to use computers to check
results of
their standardized exams, instead of walking miles or taking a bus ride
to
get them.
Ambia has created a database of land and houses for sale around
Charkhai,
which better-off Bangladeshis in London or the Middle East use to
browse for
investments in their homeland.
He is working on databases listing doctors and other basic services. He
said
a program would soon begin to allow local doctors and their patients to
hold
video conferences to consult with specialists in Dhaka.
"People are just beginning to know about this," he said. "They are
excited
to get this kind of information."
One of Ambia's most popular services is video conferencing, using the
little
Hyundai Web camera mounted atop one of his computer monitors.
Entire families crowd in front of the center's camera to hold video
conferences with relatives overseas. Ambia said a mother came in
recently to
hold up a newborn to give the father, working overseas, his first
glimpse of
his child.
"People even come here to see how things are being cooked in London,
how
they are cutting the fish," he said.
And Ambia was preparing to add a 21st-century twist to a traditional
ritual,
by hosting his first video conference wedding.
Aslam Ahmed, 25, said he planned to sit in front of the Web camera in
Charkhai and marry his girlfriend, Jasmine, 17, who would be in front
of a
Web camera in her home in London.
Weddings conducted over the telephone are common in this part of
Bangladesh.
Many marriages are still arranged between conservative Muslim families,
and
often the bride or groom is living overseas.
A marriage certificate is also a fast route to getting a work visa to
leave
Bangladesh -- and conducting the wedding by phone is faster and cheaper
than
arranging for the overseas partner and family to travel home for a
wedding.
An imam is present at both ends of the call, along with a civil
official who
certifies the vows. Duplicate sets of paperwork are then exchanged by
mail
for everyone's signatures.
Ahmed and his bride had planned a wedding by cellphone and knew they
would
have to pay $30 or $40 just for the call. The video conference over the
Internet, however, would cost a fraction of that, so the imams
conducting
the ceremony would not have to rush through the prayers to save money.
Jasmine's family moved to London in 1986. Ahmed said he had met her
just
once, in 2002, when her family came back to Charkhai to visit. They
spoke on
the phone and exchanged e-mail regularly after that -- and once Ambia's
center opened, they saw each other regularly by video conference, even
though they live 5,000 miles apart.
"I don't know what other people say, but as far as I'm concerned she's
Miss
World," Ahmed said.

ADOLESCENTS AND HIV/AIDS

Children are said to be future citizens. And adolescents are the citizens in making. Society considers them as a confused population and many times they are addressed as a ‘problem group’ in many contexts and on separate occasions. Words like ‘terrible teens’ are a reflection not of the approach of the adolescents towards the society, but of the approach of society towards them. All the commonly prevalent teenage social problems – socially deviant behavior, drug abuse, teenage smoking and drinking, adventurous sexual behavior and tendency to jumble with the law – are all a result of the conflict between a grown-up body and mind, which is not expected and accepted as grown-up.

AIDS in the adolescents group is a similar biosocial problem, which has taken form of a crisis in some parts of the world. The root causes of this are almost all the aforementioned factors that sum up to spell AIDS!

Who are 'youth'?

This is a tricky question. Various studies and reports take various ages as ‘youth’ medical textbooks describe boys between 12-20 years and girls between 10-18 years as adolescents. WHO refers to persons between age of 10 and 19 as adolescents and those between 10 and 24 as ‘young people’. Most of the international data of HIV/AIDS studies are for age group 15-24 years. For general consideration, it is safe to consider all persons between 10-25 years as young people. And they are the focus here.


Prepubescent 12-14 (male) 10-12 (female)
Pubescent 14-16 (male) 12-14 (female)
Post-pubescent 16-20 (male) 14-18 (female)

Table 1 Adolescents (years)

This group comprises about 20% of the world’s population. In developing countries where fertility rates are higher, they can form even greater part – up to 40% sometimes. This age group is the most healthy and active age group. This is going to be the economically productive group just at the age when effects of HIV contracted in teen-years would manifest as fully blown aids. This age group is clinically considered the least vulnerable for death and various chronic illnesses. Infection contracted in youth is also likely to be ignored because of apparent healthy state and therefore its chances of spreading to others in the same group are higher.

Vulnerability

Young people are much more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS than older people are. Because of the stage of their social, emotional, psychological and physical development they tend to experiment with risky behavior. What is more dangerous is the lack of awareness and a confidence that ‘it can’t happen to me.’

Risk-taking behavior is seen in:

▪ Sexual experimentation
▪ Experimentation with injectable prohibited drugs
▪ Smoking
▪ Alcoholism

A young person's environment is also a big stimulus, which drives them towards various habits. Taking alcoholism as an example, it was estimated that one in four US children (19 million in all), before age of 18 lived in a family with a member who was an alcoholic or abused alcohol. There is no reason to believe that situation is better in other parts of the world. The other condition perplexing this situation is lack of knowledge on part of young people about what constitutes a risky behavior. Having multiple sexual partners or experimenting with various drugs or alcohol is a matter of fun for them. In fact sometimes it is seen as a matter of boasting in front of peers. They fail to understand adverse impact of such things on their health and even if they do understand, it shows their carelessness about those things – a characteristic of the age group!

Sometimes the cause behind risk-taking behavior is not with the youth but with the society. In a large part of the world, sexuality is still a matter of embarrassment and shame; young people in such societies do not get a chance during their puberty and adolescence of the exact understanding of the biophysical changes they are undergoing. Similarly they don't have reliable sources which can explain to them facts about sexuality and safe sexual practices.

This results in the person feeling uncomfortable about one's sexuality, resulting in channeling it the wrong way, with wrong partners. These people, even if they know about the risks of various STDs, AIDS, or of pregnancy as a result of unprotected intercourse, do not use condoms. They just can't go and buy it because of buying condom from a third person means revealing one's sexuality to an unknown agent of the society. To relieve young people from such embarrassment, state and central governments in India have tried to find a solution. Open boxes of condoms are put in public hospitals and other public places. They are meant to be taken away for free and whoever wants condoms can take away them from those boxes in any quantity. But still the fear of someone seeing them taking a packet from the box and resultant embarrassment is too much for them to even look at those boxes!

The result

All these factors affecting behavior have resulted in an apparently disastrous condition. A creeping death of a whole generation in many sub-Saharan African nations is now as clearly visible as a lighthouse in the darkness of ocean - it is at a distance but at one moment, we have to reach there.
Statistics from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has shown some of the glimpses of disastrous effects of AIDS among young people:

- In 1998 over 2.5 million young people became infected with HIV, half of all new HIV infections that year.
- Every day over 7000 more young people become infected - about 5 per minute.
- Worldwide, people ages 15 - 24 account for about 30% of all people living with HIV/AIDS.
- just 10% of world's young people live in countries of sub-Saharan Africa, but these countries have almost 75% of the world's HIV infected youth (8.6 million)

Is there any solution?

The only preventive method for controlling HIV spread among youth is to induce behavioral change among individuals. This is a mammoth task which needs intersectoral co-ordination among governments, international agencies and non-governmental organizations. Participation of the youth themselves is indeed the most important component. A healer can heal only that patient who wants to be cured! Combating a disease with such huge dimensions needs constant scientific research as well as clinical monitoring and evaluation of changing clinical features and emerging microbiological and genetic changes. While preventing the disease, we cannot forget those unfortunate persons who have acquired the Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

For all of these things, a very large share of financial support is needed. In fact, a preventive effort for HIV/AIDS is a cheaper option than managing the disease in other ways. For instance, in India, the cost of treating one AIDS patient for one year even without expensive therapies equals the annual cost of providing primary school education for 10 students. A multi pronged approach is suggested here for prevention of youth AIDS pandemic.

1) Information, education and communication activities through all communication channels:
- 'Edutainment' and 'infotainment' are the keys to reach and teach the youth what they are supposed to do! An attractive advertisement about AIDS prevention by a successful sports personality or movie-actor will have a better impact than an hour-long lecture by a university professor.
- Use of all means of media channels to reach youth at every corner: establishing AIDS telephone hotlines, SMS by mobiles, POP-UP on internet, advertisement on FM radios, special advertisements in CD/Cassettes of popular songs, contests of various types with attractive rewards, etc.

2) Enhancing community participation:
Special training to all primary and high school teachers about AIDS and prevention
- Informing parents about their role in prevention
- Encourage parents and teachers to talk to the youth about sex and pregnancy

10 TIPS TO HELP PARENTS COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR ADOLESCENT CHILDREN ABOUT SEX
1. Be clear about your own sexual values before you talk to your children about sex.
2. Talk to your children early and often about sex
3. Be sure to have a two-way discussion and not a lecture.
4. Supervise and monitor your children.
5. Know your children’s friends and their families
6. Discourage early, frequent and steady dating in favor of group activities
7. Discourage dating where the age difference is large, especially for young girls.
8. Know what programmes your children are watching on TV, listening to on the radio and what they are reading.
9. Let your children know that you value education.
10. Let your children know that you value them.

3) Challenging high-risk behavior through education to young people about:
- Hazards of high risk behavior
- What is a high risk behavior
- Alternate ways
- How to wean off from high risk habits

4) Making condoms available

- Easy access at multiple places
- Should be very cheap/free of cost
- Seller must not make the buyer feel uncomfortable
- Consistent use of condoms should be emphasized
- Correct methods to use condoms should be taught to users

5) Enforcement of laws on drug prohibition:

- Drug dealers/sellers/carriers should be caught and sent to prisons with heavy monitory punishments
- Organized criminal networks in drug trafficking must be destroyed.
- All those known to be addicted to drug abuse should be sent to rehabilitation centers without any delay.
- Creating awareness in the society about harms of drugs and taking help of citizens in dealing with the menace.

6) Introduction of AIDS education in school curriculum at early stages

-Providing education about anatomical, biological and social aspects of sex and sexuality to adolescents undergoing pubertal changes.

-Exploring what constitutes a high-risk behavior and how to save oneself from it.

-Dealing with peer pressure and other social pressures on young people to be sexually active.

-Using teaching methods and materials appropriate to students’ age, sexual experience and culture.

-Selecting as teachers those who can understand adolescents and their needs and who can help their needs and who can help them deal with those needs in safer ways.

) Promoting voluntary counseling, HIV testing and referral. Such a facility should:
-Respect teens
-Offer free testing
-Offer a broad array of teen oriented services
-Assure confidentiality
-Not require parental consent
-Offer a choice between oral or blood-drawn tests
-Be convenient with access to public transportation
-Ask few questions.
-Require little paperwork.

8) Promoting voluntary blood donation among young people…
- will help maintain adequate stores of blood unite in banks.
- will reduce practice of dependence on professional blood donors
- will increase awareness among young people about importance of blood donation as a form of social service.

9) Strengthening financial support

- There should be a definite amount of national, state and district budgets earmarked for anti-AIDS activities
- A minimum fixed share of any nation’s GDP should go to preventive activities.
- International agencies should have enough funds from various governmental and private donations.
- Of the total funds, a fixed share should go to youth AIDS prevention activities.

10) Improving socio-economic environment

- Providing young people enough opportunities of education, employment and technical skills.
- Loans and grants to initiate economic activities to young people at cheaper interests
- Developing training institutes for underprivileged youth so as to enable them to have good living standards.
- Introducing policy changes and social modifications to absorb the young people in its main stream.

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Adolescents and HIV/AIDS
Translated into Arabic by: (no name)

Hey, this someones panoroma entry, i saw and was touched and felt i hsould share with you.

The first time I saw Fatima was on a TV show called “People’s Talk”, where she had appeared to describe her experience with AIDS. Her face was covered and her voice distorted so that she would remain anonymous. She spoke shamefully, cried, and begged for mercy. It was then that I resolved to meet with Fatima. I called the show and asked for her number. The next day, I contacted her and surprisingly, she agreed to meet with me at my earliest convenience.

I was really intrigued by the fact that I was about to meet with an Arab AIDS patient, a case not so common in my region. AIDS is known to be very alarming in Africa, mostly, while the Arab world is concerned with different kinds of tribulations. While it is true that the AIDS pandemic does not constitute a priority concern in the Arab world as compared to its urgency in other regions, it is a fact that it is spreading, and its severity carries social and ethical dimensions. The main problem with AIDS is the shame associated with it, a fact which prevents patients from talking about it openly, and thus makes research on the virus and attempts at reversing it very complicated. I realized later that Fatima was uniquely brave to appear on TV and share her experience with so “shameful” an affliction. However, it was only when she had lost all hope of life and had nothing more to lose that she decided to expose herself and her dignity.

On the morning of July 1, I headed towards Fatima’s dwelling, a small house situated in a slum area of the capital city. I was ardent to meet a woman who had plenty to tell me about life, human nature, culture, pain, suffering and fear. I knew that it would be an incredible learning experience, a journey of discovery and passion. However, no sooner had my eyes fallen upon the dread of that wretched home with its hostess greeting me with tearful eyes, than my heart was invaded by immense consternation. I felt anguish, desperation, and moroseness. I soon realized that I was going to discover the essence of pain. It was clear at that very moment that I was starting a morbid journey, a journey into darkness.

“Welcome”, she said, with arms wide open. “I hope it wasn’t a tiring trip for you.”

“Not at all”, I answered, “I am very happy to be here.”

“Do you live alone?” I asked inquisitively.

“Yes, I do”, she uttered. She ushered me to my seat, lay down on the sofa, and resumed: “Ever since I was afflicted, my family deserted me. I used to live with my mother and two daughters. My daughters are now married, thank God, and they live abroad with their husbands. My mother left this house because she feared to catch the virus. However, she comes once a week to bring me medicine and food.”
“You mentioned daughters; this means you must have a husband. Is he around you?”

“My husband is dead”, she replied. “He died of AIDS. He gave me the disease and forsook me to my tragic fate. He left me to die alone.”

I enquired how her husband caught the virus. I wanted to know whether it was the result of a local incident or an outside factor. She explained to me that he caught it from a sexual relation that he had in one of his business trips abroad.

“He accused me, though, of giving him the virus”, she exclaimed sardonically. “He insisted I had not been faithful to him.”

“What? Why did he do that??” I asked with dismay.

“All tragedies are female generated in our society”, she replied. “No man will tolerate to admit guilt.”

I was shaken upon hearing her words, for I had always believed that cruelty and injustice are conquered by love and mercy in times of affliction and distress. In Fatima’s world, however, love and mercy have always been scarcities. Fatima had to bear the blame of a mistake she never committed. I continued though:

“So you discovered the disease together at the same time?”

“Yes, after my husband was diagnosed with AIDS, I took tests and discovered that I was also infected.”

“How did you deal with this news?” I asked interestedly.

“It was a shock to us both”, she said. “At first, I was outraged. I screamed, shrieked, broke the window glass, and I cursed him with all the passion I had in me. He denied it, of course, blamed me for it, and left the house. After three weeks, he came back imploring for help, like a bird with broken wings. There was nothing I could do. I felt powerless. However, I realized that I should stand by him, for after all, we both had to face the same fate. We agreed to support each other. Our daughters knew, but their husbands didn’t.

“What about other kin? Do you have cousins?”

“My cousins deny me. In their eyes, I am a source of shame, a symbol of sin and decadence.”

Signs of exhaustion started showing on Fatima’s pallid face. She took a deep breath and gazed at her daughters’ picture. She looked pensive and remained silent for some time. Then, she continued, with tears in her eyes:

“I have no one, no one. I have never felt so alone, lonely and forsaken.”

It was a poignant scene. The tragedy was so heartrending that I could bear no more. I stood up and walked towards the patio. I gazed at the geraniums that Fatima had planted in large jars. They were the only beautiful scenery, the only joyful note in the elegy that Fatima was singing. Then, I asked her whether she worked.
“I used to be a salesclerk at the store across the street”, she explained. “I was asked to leave after I was infected. I couldn’t hide it. I became sick and it affected my performance, so I was released from my duties.”

“Did you try to work elsewhere?”

“I did, but I couldn’t. I had to offer certified medical statements.”

“How do you survive? Do you have any income??”

“I barely do. My mother is a cook in a restaurant, and my daughter sends me some money in secret whenever she can.”

“Do you buy your medicine or is it provided by your government?”

She smiled acerbically and said: “Government? No, the government can’t afford this kind of medicine. I have to buy it, and I am not insured. I can’t afford to buy insurance. I haven’t been able to buy all the required medicine, and surely not in the amount that I need.”

“I feel powerless”, she continued, “incapable of controlling my own destiny. If something happens to my mother, I will soon die.”

I was speechless for a while. I wanted to console her, but couldn’t find the proper words. I finally asked her: “What is it that you need the most, Fatima? Is it money?”

“Of course I need money, she cried; otherwise, I couldn’t carry on. But it is more than money what I need! I need love, companionship, acceptance, support, friendship, this is what I need! This will give me a reason to fight for life. But these are luxuries I can’t afford. I can’t have love, for my closest family deserted me. I can’t have friends, for no one would want to spend time with a dangerous AIDS patient. I sure cannot be accepted, for AIDS is a taboo; I can’t talk about it openly; otherwise, I will be stigmatized for the rest of my life. While I can’t have moral support, I can’t even have financial support because my government is broke and careless.”

My encounter with Fatima lasted three hours, which seemed as long as three winters. They were fierce winters indeed, and I felt very cold, so it was time for me to retire home. On my way out, she uttered her final words: “I really hope to meet with you again. Please remember me in your days.” I said good bye promising to return, and set out.

As I drove away from the capital into the mountains, the sun was glowing magically and the cool breeze was whispering through the tree leaves. With all the glimmering sunlight that imbued space, it rained in my heart. Fatima’s words did not
leave me. They were implanted in my mind. I knew that the sun would never shine again in her world. She is doomed to eternal darkness, for she is the victim of an unmerciful society; a society where human rights barely exists; where the government is corrupt and impotent; where women are blamed for all the calamities that befall mankind; and where ignorance and decadence make it impossible for human dignity to flourish. However, I made a vow to myself which brought me comfort: to visit Fatima as often as I could, to be the friend she longs for, and to be the solace she craves in the bitterness of her endless night.

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Journey into Darkness by May Fawaz
Translated into Russian by: (no name)

Journey into Darkness by May Fawaz
Translated into Arabic by: (no name)

Journey into Darkness by May Fawaz
Translated into French by: (no name)

They hopped, jumped and gyrated on the dance floor as if they were possessed by the sprit of Bacchus. In fact, they had their eyes on the world record and the coveted prize of N2 million including Nokia N91 music phone each.

But they made it. Sweating and panting like a mad dog, the Zebra group eventually breasted the tape. They broke the world dance record and thus made history as the new titleholders of the Guinness Book of World Records.

It all happened in the early hours of Nigeria’s 46th Independence at the Nokia Danceathon held at the Silverbird Studios in Lagos where a group of young Nigerians were crowned with a new dance party record of 53 hours 50 minutes that would go into the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s longest dance party.

The event began at 6.00pm on Friday, September 29, 2006. Before setting the new record at four minutes past midnight on Monday, October 2, the team, at exactly 10.14pm on Sunday night had erased former world record of 52 hours 3 minutes set by the Heart Health Hop of the United States at a contest that began on July 31, 2003.

Representative of Guinness World Records, Ms Sandra Aghaizu, formally announced the new world record at 12.38am on Monday. An ecstatic Vithesh Reddy, Nokia’s Area Manager for Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia, said thus: "The partnership of this event by Nokia is a clear vindication of the trust and confidence that we continue to repose in Nigeria."

He explained that the Nokia N91 music phone partnered the Silverbird Danceathon, providing the music platform and contributing to the process of social mobilization through young people and music. "Music is a very potent weapon for mobilizing young people and the Nokia N91 is an enabler of good music; it is resilient, it is versatile and it is potent, with a massive memory that can accommodate thousands of CD quality music tracks."

In sponsoring the Silverbird Danceathon initiative, Reddy said, Nokia found a great partner in the Silverbird Group, easily one of Nigeria’s leading entertainment conglomerates. He added that the partnership between Nokia N91 and Silverbird has helped to facilitate a reawakening of the tremendous talent that is innate in millions of Nigerian youths.

Chairman of the Silverbird Group, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, said Nigeria’s achievement of this feat restates the fact that Silverbird is a record breaking, proudly Nigerian brand and will continue in this streak.

The winning dance team will take away collective cash reward of N2 million while the last dancer standing will, in addition, receive a cash prize of N1.5 million and a Nokia N91 phone.
"The winning Zebra team and the last dancer standing have helped to demonstrate that all it takes to being a world champion and consolidate Nigeria’s standing on the world stage is team spirit, discipline and determination; we trust that millions of youths out there will be inspired by this positive message, which the Nokia N91 music phone is helping to propagate," Reddy said.

I love to share this with you, what do you think?
If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay. Stop making excuses for a man and his behavior. Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache. Stop trying to change yourself for a relationship that's not meant to be. Slower is better. Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy. If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then heck no, you can't "be friends”. A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend. Don't settle. If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is. Don't stay because you think "it will get better.” You’ll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better. The only person you can control in a relationship is you. Avoid men who've got a bunch of children by a bunch of different women. He didn't marry them when he got them pregnant, why would he treat you any differently? Always have your own set of friends separate from his. Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you. If something bothers you, speak up. Never let a man know everything.* He will use it against you later. You cannot change a man's behavior.*ycorvette78 Change comes from within. Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are... even if he has more education or in a better job. Do not make him into a quasi-god. He is a man, nothing more nothing less. Never let a man define who you are. Never borrow someone else's man. If he cheated with you, he'll cheat on you. A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you. All men are NOT dogs. You should not be the one doing all the bending...compromise is two way street. You need time to heal between relationships...there is nothing cute about baggage... deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you...a relationship consists of two WHOLE individuals...look for someone complimentary...not supplementary. Dating is fun...even if he doesn't turn out to be Mr. Right. Make him miss you sometimes...when a man always know where you are, and you're always readily available to him - he takes it for granted. Never move into his mother's house. Never co-sign for a man. Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need.* Keep him in your radar but get to know others. Share this with other women and men (just so they know)... You'll make someone smile, another rethink her choices, and another woman prepare. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them and an entire lifetime to forget them. Advice from an Angel, Scared of being alone is what makes a lot of women stay in relationships that are abusive or hurtful Dr Phill You should know that you're the best thing that could ever happen to anyone and if a man mistreats you, he'll miss out on a good thing. If he was attracted to you in the 1st place, just know that he's not the only one. They're all watching you, so you have a lot of choices. Make the right one. Ladies take care of your own hearts....This communication together with any attachments transmitted with it

Press Release: Jailing people for passing on HIV may threaten public
health, conference told
European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG)
14 November 2006
******************
Glasgow - The conviction and imprisonment of people with HIV for
transmitting their virus is counterproductive and may even threaten
public health, the Eighth International Congress on Drug Therapy in
HIV Infection was told this week.
HIV criminalisation experts were addressing the conference's community
workshop, organised by the European AIDS Treatment Group.
Matthew Weait of the Research Institute for Law, Politics and Justice
at Keele University said that there was a difference between believing
that transmitting HIV, especially to partners unaware of the risk, was
morally bad and that the law should be used to prosecute such cases.
"We need to challenge that linkage," he said.
Weait stressed the possible adverse consequences of the
criminalisation of HIV transmission:
* It could act as a disincentive for people to test, as ignorance of
status might be a defence.
* It made it difficult for HIV positive people to disclose or
recommend post-exposure prophylaxis to a partner if there had been
unprotected sex.
* Since recklessness means that people knew there was a risk of
transmission and decided to take it, the use or attempted use of a
condom could even be used as prosecution evidence.
Research was urgently needed to find out if criminalisation was
already affecting people's testing and disclosure behaviour, he said.
Lisa Power of the Terrence Higgins Trust said that there had been
prosecutions for HIV in 26 European countries.
She said that many countries had prosecuted people who had had
unprotected sex even when they had not transmitted their virus. Most
countries had imposed custodial sentences with sentences of 5-10 years
not uncommon.
However the meeting also heard that some countries there had been
successful challenges both to the underlying law on criminalisation
and the scientific evidence used to prove transmission.
Roland Brands, Policy Officer for the Social and Legal Aspects of HIV
for the Dutch SOOAIDS Project, said that between 2001 and 2005 the
Netherlands prosecuted 10 people with HIV who had unsafe sex and did
not disclose to their partners for attempted manslaughter and
attempted GBH. There was only one HIV transmission in these 10 cases.
However after appeals by AIDS activists, the Dutch Supreme Court in
January 2005 decided that prosecuting people for exposure was unjust
since exposure did not inevitably mean infection.
Virologist Anna-Maria Geretti said that individual cases could be
successfully challenged on the basis of the scientific evidence.
She said that though genetic testing could rule out an HIV
transmission, it was very difficult to prove, without corroborating
evidence, that one person did infect another.
The issue was twofold: firstly, the way samples from the alleged
victim and perpetrator were compared with control samples tended to
exaggerate their similarity, and secondly, it was often difficult to
exclude the possibility that a third party may have infected both
people or served as an intermediary.
This was demonstrated in one specific UK case recently, which was as a
result dismissed.
Bernard Forbes, Chair of the UK Coalition of People Living with HIV
and AIDS, co-moderating the session, commented that the UK Department
of Health had recently launched a campaign stressing that young people
had a responsibility to protect themselves from sexually transmitted
infections. Criminalisation, on the other hand, made it the entire
responsibility of the infected person.
"These two ideas just don't fit," he said. "Maybe we should suggest
that the Crown Prosecution Service indicts the Department of Health
for encouraging GBH."
Srdan Matic, STD/HIV programme advisor for the World Health
Organisation European office, presented a personal perspective,
because the WHO does not as yet have a position on criminalisation,
though it is expected to produce one in 2007.
Matic said that society should intervene in individual behaviour only
if it was the only way to ensure public health. Experience with
injecting drug users showed exactly the reverse – the more severely
countries punished the use and supply of drugs, he said, the worse
their drugs and HIV problem tended to be.
He said that the severity of the sentences handed down in HIV
transmission cases may violate the UN Declaration on Human Rights.
"We know where criminalisation starts," he said. "But where does it
end?"
* All presentations from the Community Workshop on the Criminalisation
of HIV Transmission can be downloaded from
www.eatg.org/pages/article.php?id=383
* Eighth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection:
www.hiv8.com
Contact:
European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG)
Place Raymond Blyckaerts, 13
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 644 42 10
Fax: +32 2 644 33 07
Email: office@eatg.org

Mods note: This is the first of a four-part series about the stories
of how some individuals from Trinidad and Tobago have come to be
infected with HIV and how they cope with their status. Members are
welcome to share your comments on the forum.]
***************
According to a UNAIDS report, of the over one billion youths (aged 15
to 24) worldwide, some ten million are living with HIV. Every day, an
estimated 6,000 youths are infected with the virus. In 2005, the AIDS
epidemic claimed an estimated 27,000 lives in the Caribbean, making it
the leading cause of death among adults aged 15 to 44.
Approximately 330,000 people are currently living with HIV in the
region, including the 27,000 new cases reported in 2005. To date,
there is no cure for HIV/AIDS but there are treatments available that
can significantly improve the lives of those living with the virus.
This four-part series takes a closer look at some of the individuals
who look past the grim statistics and alarming facts about HIV/AIDS.
To these individuals, HIV/AIDS is not a death sentence. They are
living proof. They are living with HIV/AIDS.
Mary* remembers even the finest of details leading to her HIV-positive
status. John* walked up to her at the UWI Student Activities Centre.
She was digging into a small container of Chinese food. He sat down
and casually started talking to her. Over the next month, he
aggressively pursued her; showing up after classes to "lime". Bringing
lunch. Calling at least three times a day.
To 21-year-old Mary, he was attractive and charming and seemed to be a
"nice guy". She gave in to his advances and they began dating although
she vowed to remain a virgin until marriage. But on October 15, 2004,
he dropped her off at the apartment her parents rented for her to go
to school. They had just come back from seeing a movie and he asked to
use her washroom.
She thought he would leave when he was finished using the washroom but
he didn't. Instead, he sat down and asked for a glass of water. When
she brought the glass for him, he threw her down on her bed and
started touching her.
"I tried to push him off me but he was too strong. I tried to scream
but he covered my mouth. I was just completely in shock. All I could
hear in my head was 'this isn't really happening' but it was. He
raised up my skirt, pulled down my underwear and said, 'Calm down, you
know you want it too.' I didn't want it. I tried to fight him off but
I'm short and tiny and he is over six feet tall and he plays football
so he has a solid build."
When it was over and he left, she recalled feeling so dirty that all
she wanted to do was take a shower. She decided not to go to the
police because people around campus knew they were dating and she felt
the police wouldn't believe her. Her biggest fear was pregnancy but
after taking several pregnancy tests over the next three months, she
was able to push that fear out of her head.
Life, it seemed, went back to normal. "I saw him on campus after that
but he couldn't look at me and I certainly didn't want to have
anything to do with him. I wasn't pregnant and that's all I needed to
know. I just wanted to get my degree and get on with my life. I just
wanted to put the whole sordid affair behind me."
Because he was fit and looked healthy, Mary didn't think he was
HIV-positive so she opted not to take the test. "I was a virgin before
him and since that night, I haven't been interested in dating so I
didn't think it was possible that I could be HIV-positive." However,
in December of 2005 a female friend encouraged Mary to get tested. Her
results came back positive. "When the doctor gave me my results, it
felt like I was being raped all over again. I felt a sharp pain inside
me and I couldn't stop crying. It's strange that the word 'positive'
could be so negative in this context. I didn't tell my friend because
I didn't know how she would treat me. I certainly couldn't tell my
family-what would they think?"
A million questions ran through her head. "I had so many questions.
Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Does he know he's HIV-positive?
Am I going to die young?" Mary was referred to a counsellor and with
the counsellor's help, she came to the realisation that she could
still have a relatively normal life--despite her status.
"Thankfully, we get HIV medications in Trinidad free. I have to take
several tablets a day, a cocktail as they call it. And because of
advances in medicine, my doctor told me once I follow their guidelines
and take my tablets on time, I could live for years and years and
never reach to the point where I have AIDS."
Mary approached me to share her story on living with HIV.
"It's hard keeping my status a secret but I have to because there are
some people who just wouldn't understand. But people need to
understand that you won't get HIV if you touch me or if you hug me or
if we lime together. You won't get HIV because you talk to me. You
won't get HIV because we share a desk in school.
"I've heard of people being rejected by their friends or family after
revealing their status and I don't know if I could handle that
rejection. What I go through on a daily basis is punishment enough; I
just want support and for people to see me as normal. I am normal."
*Real names withheld by interviewee's request.
Email: rauguste@trinidadexpress.com
Seek help immediately
If you've been raped, Dr Amery Browne, the technical director of the
National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC), recommends that you
report the rape and seek treatment immediately. "Ideally, try to get
treatment within two hours and at least before 72 hours have passed."
After a few routine questions are asked and your medical history is
checked, relevant specimen samples are taken for testing purposes. The
samples could help to determine whether your assailant is HIV-positive
or if any other sexually transmitted infections are present. HIV/AIDS
can be avoided if the rape victim gets the same antiretroviral
medication given to HIV/AIDS patients for a very short/finite
duration--around 28 days. Browne stressed the importance of following
up on your treatments. "You can't start the treatment and not follow
up. The treatment works best when it's taken for the full recommended
duration." He also noted that post-rape treatments don't just include
treatments for just HIV/AIDS, but Postinor is available to prevent
pregnancy and there are treatments to prevent other STIs from
occurring. For additional information, counselling or treatment
information, please call 625-AIDS or the Rape Crisis Centre at
622-7273

Yesterday, the Vatican announced that it has
concluded its study on condoms to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.
This 200-page study on condoms, which the Vatican will not make
public, has been passed on to the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith for additional theological and doctrinal opinions. Finally
it will end up in Pope Benedict XVI's hands, and he will decide
whether or not to lift the ban on condoms.
As an individual committed to health and rights for all, you may be
aware that the Condoms4Life campaign has launched an international,
interfaith effort to encourage Pope Benedict XVI to lift this ban
and join us in preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS around the
world.
Time is running out, and we want to officially launch this campaign
on World AIDS Day with as much support as possible. It is vital
that the pope hears from Catholics and non-Catholics all over the
world to know that this is a life-or-death issue for many, and you
can help today.
Please join us and add your name to the Condoms4Life
letter to Pope Benedict asking him to lift the ban on condoms.
On World AIDS Day (1 December), people from all over
the world will officially begin asking the pope to help stop the
spread of HIV and AIDS. We need your help to ensure that the pope
receives the message loud and clear – the ban on condoms is wrong,
dangerous and irresponsible, and it should be lifted as a matter of
justice!
If you have already signed the letter, THANK YOU.
Thousands of individuals from more than 100
countries in the world have already signed this letter, but we still
need your help. Please forward this email to five friends, family
members, colleagues or co- workers, and ask them to join you by
signing the letter asking to lift the ban today.
To sign the letter online, please go to the CFFC
Action Center. Or you can send an email to info@condoms4life.org
and tell us your:
Name
Email
Country
This pandemic continues to take the lives of people
throughout the world - young and old alike. Recent data from the Joint
UN Program on HIV and AIDS shows that since Benedict became pope on
19 April 2005, approximately

5.5 million people have acquired HIV, and
3.7 million people have died of AIDS-related causes.

Lifting this cruel and stigmatizing ban on condoms
would be a positive and life-affirming move for Pope Benedict. The
hierarchy can no longer talk about a culture of life and turn a blind
eye to the suffering and dying. It can no longer tell people to love
and care for one another and deny them the means by which to protect
each other.
We need you to help us make the voices of all the
people within our communities heard. Please join us and send the
message to Pope Benedict and the Vatican that the time has come and
the ban on condoms must end now!


email: info@condoms4life.org
phone: +1 202 986 6093
web: http://www.catholicsforchoice.org

For some time now i have not posted in my blog, what a bad habit, anyway not entirely fault of mine but a great persentage to my work.
I will only tell u a bit about my day today, the rest, i will tell you later.
i went to see the Nigerian Television authority General Manager today trying to secure a date for an advocay visit to him, he rejected the request on the ground that he did not know of my network and was too busy. i insisted i wanted to see him personally, all the staff in his office sat ready for a fight. they told me thier boss was a lecturer ao they were looking for who would win for he argument. Long story, in the end i won and i have my adcocacy visit on the day i want it. Every one was shocked though young and small to behold, i did the unimaginable for them.
Men lets make this forum better, post that inof i need to hear it.
David
see yal next time

Event: Nigerian National Health Conference 2006

Dear Colleagues,

The Nigerian National Health Conference 2006 (a.k.a. NHC2006) is a
collaborative effort initiated by the Senate Committee on Health of
the National Assembly and the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria
(HERFON). It would be recalled that in 2003, the Change Agent
Programme (CAP) led by current Honourable Minister of Health Professor
Eyitayo Lambo, produced a document named 'PUTTING HEALTH HIGH ON THE
POLITICAL AGENDA', which was disseminated and discussed with all the
registered political parties.

Since 2003 and following on the heels of the advocacy effort, Nigeria
had embarked on another journey towards better health, through a
robust Health Sector Reform regime aimed at strengthening the National
Health System; culminating in the current National Health Bill (NHB)
awaiting final passage by the National Assembly. As 2007 elections
approaches, a new leadership is expected, and engagement with the
political actors and policy makers is extremely necessary for the
sustenance of current reforms through the next democratic regimes;
especially in the various States of the Federation, using Change
Agents and other stakeholders.

The NHC2006 has been generated, mentioned, discussed and accepted in
interactions between the Senate Committee on Health, Federal Ministry
of Health (FMoH), HERFON, Partnership for Transforming Health Systems
(PATHS), ENHANSE/USAID, World Health Organisation (WHO), UK Department
for International Development (DFID), Advocacy Nigeria, Pharmaceutical
Society of Nigeria (PSN), Health and Managed Care Association of
Nigeria (HMCAN), European Union (EU), Nigeria Economic Summit Group
(NESG), Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), National Association of
Community Health Practitioners (NACHP), NANNM, Committee of Chief
Medical Directors (CCMDs), Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA), National Council of Women Society (NCWS), Association of
General and Private Medical Practitioners of |Nigeria (AGPMPN),
Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), etc., as a 'doable' approach
towards 'recovering the years that the locust had eaten' in our health
system; as epitomized by the current reforms in the health sector led
by His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Honourable
Minister of Health Professor Eyitayo Lambo.

Already, a National Steering Committee for the Conference, chaired by
the Chairman of Senate Committee on Health Distinguished Senator S.I.
Martyns-Yellowe (M.D.) has been constituted and inaugurated. Speaking
during the inauguration, Distinguished Senator Martyns-Yellowe
lamented the problems of the Nigerian Health Sector over the years. He
said that in view of the fact that the country is now working towards
democratically transiting from a sitting President to a new one, the
NHC has become imperative as an all-embracing fast-tracking effort to
urgently focus on 'Health in Nigeria in the 21st Century - Sustaining
the Reforms Beyond 2007'; while the outputs of the conference shall be
vigorously marketed to all stakeholders in the Nigerian Health Sector,
nationally and internationally.

Also speaking during the inauguration, the Executive Secretary of
HERFON Dr. Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe whose vision and that of his
organization the conference is emphasized HERFON's commitment and
concern to use the current transition period in the country to commit
the political class to basic national objectives in the health sector.
He opined that as stakeholders, members of the committee, the
institutions they represent and indeed all stakeholders; need to work
assiduously on the country current health priorities, with an
intention of setting national targets for the next democratic era. He
expressed HERFON's appreciation that Distinguished Senator
Martyns-Yellowe and the Senate Committee on Health shared this vision
and has gotten his tremendous support behind it.

The National Steering Committee shall oversee the organization of the
conference; provide the strong political leverage and recruit more
partners as needed, for the successful organisation of the NHC and
marketing of its outcome; mobilise the resources needed for the NHC
and its zonal equivalents; market the outcomes of the NHC for
sustainable health systems reform and improvement in health status of
Nigerians; and consider other measures needed to organise the NHC and
fully realise its objectives.

The conference secretariat has been set up within the premises of
HERFON, and the Conference Coordinator appointed in the person of Dr.
Uzodinma Adirieje [former Programmes Manager, ICASA 2005]. He also
functions as the Secretary of the NHC's National Steering Committee.

The goal of National Health Conference 2006 is 'to develop a Health
Agenda for Nigeria in the twenty-first (21st) Century and disseminate
this Agenda to Stakeholders at all levels of Government, Development
Partners and NGOs, nationally and internationally'; with the
objectives of:
i. Creating a forum for interactions among key stakeholders [The
Presidency, National Assembly, State Governments, local governments,
FMoH and line Ministries, SMoHs, Policy makers, Development Partners,
Professional organizations, Parastatals and institutions, Health care
financiers, health care providers, Facility owners, Community leaders,
Traditional healers, pharmaceutical manufacturers/suppliers,
clients/patients, etc.] in order to increase their understanding of
issues and challenges of the Nigerian health sector and participation
in various plans to address them.
ii. Reviewing the current situation of the Nigerian Health Sector in
relation to existing health policies
iii. Reviewing and propagating the achievements of the ongoing Health
Sector Reform Programme [HSRP]
iv. Developing locally appropriate, acceptable and affordable
approaches for the consolidation of the achievements of the ongoing
reforms
v. Developing the focus and agenda for Nigeria Health Sector for 2007
and beyond; and
vi. Developing the plans for disseminating the agreed Agenda to
political actors, policy makers, healthcare professionals and other
stakeholders at all levels

The expected outputs of the conference are:
i. Comprehensive report of the activities, presentations, sessions and
decisions of the conference;
ii. Summarized report of the key decisions and agreed activities by
the forum – that is The Agreed Agenda;
iii. Programmatic work plan for the implementation of the decisions
arrived at during the conference;
iv. Establishment of a monitoring group with a secretariat that would
follow-up on relevant stakeholders to ensure that the proposed work
plan is adopted/adapted and implemented at the various levels of
governance in the country; and
v. Advocacy document(s) in a very simple and summarized format that
could be used as a marketing document to various stakeholders.

The expected outcomes/impacts of the conference include:
i. Effective national health systems
ii. Better and appropriate health services and health-seeking
behaviours within the population
iii. Improved health indices for the population
iv. Better health outcomes
v. Enhanced human development
vi. Increased general life expectancy

Kindly direct all enquiries and comments related to the NHC2006:

The Conference Coordinator
Nigerian National Health Conference 2006 Conference Secretariat c/o
Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON) # 10 Sakono Street, (opp.
AP Plaza), off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja
Ph: 09.4618496; Fax: 09.5240433
Mob: 0803.4725905
Email: nationalhealthconf2006_ng@yahoo.com
Web: www.herfon.org

Thank you.

hello, i found this intersting and thot i should share it with u.
David

I AM THANKFUL:
FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.




FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.


FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.


FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM EMPLOYED.



FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.


FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.



FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE



FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .


FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. .


FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .


FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.


FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS
I CAN HEAR.



FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.



FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN
CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.



FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.


AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL


BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO REVIEW 1995 ADOLESCENT HEALTH POLICY WITH STAKEHOLDERS IN LAGOS
This entry is about: The role of Youths in Nation Building using the IT Facility. | Nigeria


NAYA on behalf of Nigerian Youths will want to first thank the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Health, Adolescents Health Units for considering undertaking this laudable initiative at this point in time of the polity.

The Network (NAYA) was established in 2002 in Nairobi Kenya, with the support of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America International (PPFA-I) as a sexual health and rights platform for advocacy, community mobilization and capacity building through youth leadership with HIV/AIDS being the main focus of activities in six African Countries (Sudan, Benin, Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, and Nigeria). NAYA specifically advocates for increase access to information and education on adolescent and youth reproductive health, and to increase community support for the provision of adolescent reproductive health services in Nigeria


Do you want to exercise your civic responsibilities to be a visible partaker in decisions that will affect your present decisions and future expectations?

Do you want to have first-hand knowledge of the day to day and opportunities to make your input as regards to the review of the 1995 National Adolescent Health Policy?

Now, we know! The Federal Ministry of Health is convening the long expected 1995 National Adolescent Health policy review; which concerns you and the Citizenship practice for a comprehensive health outcome.

NAYA, a youth-focused organization is facilitating in the three-day process a virtual conference to increased Youths Involvement and participation where you will be able to table and monitor your opinions and make your voice heard.

All young persons in Nigeria and the Diaspora and all adolescents and youth loving friends of Nigeria, and Africa as a whole are hereby invited to participate in online forum through the following our web-link: www.nayafrica.tk

You may not have the physical resources and capacity to be at the venue of the meeting but it is your citizenship rights to be actively involved.

Visit the web-link to exercise your rights!

If you do not make your decision, someone else will make it for you but that may not be completely in your best interest.

This is also to notify all the Gentlemen of the press in the country about the Press conference that will hold after the programme. You are cordially invited.

For more information please contact:
Maureen Okoro: 0803 0873080 oge_210@yahoo.com
Bello Titilola: 0802 3420413 btitilola@yahoo.com
For: NAYA – Nigeria
Akinbo A. A. Cornerstone
akinbo@savechildrennow.org
08056681661

PRESS RELEASE: NETWORK FOR ADOLESCENTS AND YOUTHS OF AFRICA (NAYA)

STAY ALIVE

The day had just dawn
She was walking down
Tears rolling down her cheeks
To the material of check
She had put on
As she walked by

She had many dreams unaccomplished
Many promises left unfulfilled.
What about her fiancée
what will she tell him
Few weeks to their wedding
she had AIDS
She needed

She was scared
Knowing the number
Of years for her to live
Were cut short by this disease
Was she going to die?
Because of aids lie,
Or will knowing she had
The virus kill her?

Only if she had known
Her teen years
Would not have been wasted
Playing around sleeping around
Not knowing hivaids was around
Many questions crept
Into her little heart
She needed to stay alive.

Stay alive
Don’t have sex
With the opposite sex
Abstinence is the best
Wait till you are married.
Married, don’t look around
Aids will find you around.
Don’t share sharp objects
You may be HIVIDS next object

Stay alive if you have HIV/AIDS
It was not your bargain
Though not to your gain
Don’t let the virus intimidate you
Intimidate the virus.

If you don’t have
Those that have need your care
Don’t just stand and stare
Not sure? Check your status
Aids is not fiction
It is real
Stay alive.

By: Nguavese Dio
Nigeria

A young persons agressive nature towards AIDS. i find it particularly interesting because, it expresses anger as well as optimisim that soon and very soon HIV/AIDS would be doomed. Malaria at one times was just as dreaded as HIV/AIDS is now, but today, it's more like a battle won.

H-How you came to this world
I-I don’t know you beast, you made us a
V-Victim of your evil plot you the

A-Adversery of our soul what a way to
I-Invest sorrow and pain on both young and old to
D-Derive pleasure in the of the innocent
S-Surely in just a little time you will be doomed.

The Nigerian position on Orphans And Vulnerable Children
UNAIDS and WHO estimates for 2004 show that there is a huge and growing number of orphaned children in Africa. Estimates for 26 African countries suggest that the number of orphans from any cause will increase by around 50% between 1990 and 2010.

The extent of the epidemic in Africa makes it qualitatively different from other regions. Traditionally, it used to be said “there is no such thing as an orphan in Africa”. Children who lost one or both parents were incorporated into a relative’s family. But the combination of increased orphan numbers, reduced numbers of caregivers and weakened extended family systems, combined with poverty, means that vulnerable children are more likely to fall through the extended family safety net. Rising numbers of orphaned children of all descriptions, not just orphans due to AIDS or other causes are suffering as a result of the epidemic.

Orphaned and Vulnerable Children are being affected economically, socially and psychologically. Economic and social impacts include malnutrition, reduced access to education and health care, child labour, migration and homelessness. Psychological impacts include depression, guilt, anger and fear caused by parental illness and death. The social, economic and psychological impacts of AIDS on children combine to increase their vulnerability to a range of consequences including HIV infection, lack of education, poverty, child labour, exploitation and unemployment.

National Overview:
The National HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS, 2003) indicated that Nigeria is one of countries that has one of the highest number of AIDS orphans in the world, with an orphan population of about 1.4 million children. According to the survey, the planning status of births in Nigeria showed that 10% of all pregnancies are unwanted while 22% are unplanned. Also, there is high level of misconception about how to avoid HIV with only 19.5% of respondents knowing all the five UNAIDS indicators on transmission. Moreover, the attitude of Nigerians towards family members living with HIV/AIDS is discriminative. According to the NARHS report, 40% of males and 52% of females in Nigerian do not care about PLWHA as well as Orphans and Vulnerable Children by HIV/AIDS.


According to recent statistics, Benue State has the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS with about 10.2 following a decline of 16.8% from 1999 to 9.3% and 10.2 However, the state is at the exponential and explosive face of the epidemic with potentially grave consequences. One of which is the increased number of orphans and vulnerable children with or without education.
Recommendation:
 Strengthen social economic, nutritional and psychosocial support program at all level for Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
 Impart mitigation; care and support of OVC should be embarked on by Government, NGOs and stakeholders.
 Policy should be made to protect the interest of OVC against discrimination and stigmatization in schools and the society.
 Scholarship schemes and grants for indigent OVC for education should be established and properly monitored.
 Establish HIV/AIDS OVC desk officers and focal points in all work places.
 Create increased awareness of the plight of OVC at all tiers of government to enhance support for OVC.

Conclusion:
The plights of OVC hardly need preaching to be appreciated. It is the collective responsibility of the government, the law makers, CSOs, NGOs, FBOs and stakeholders for the effective mitigation of the impacts of HIV/AIDS in our community.