Pls consider for use in next edition of your Pambazuka newsletter.Thanks.

Princess Olufemi-Kayode
Media Programmes Officer
Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria
Email: [email protected]
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Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria has commenced an
advocacy campaign to support access to affordable treatment
and care for Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS.

The two-year campaign aims to secure access to HIV-related
care and treatment by empowering a wide body of
stakeholders with the appropriate information and skills to
act on these issues.

Specific objectives of the project include empowering
people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) with the skills and
knowledge to advocate on issues of access to treatment. It
would also seek to enhance national exchange of information
and experiences between PLWHA, HIV/AIDS workers and
organizations, the private sector, community organizations,
the media and other relevant organizations in Nigeria on
issues of access to care and treatment.

In addition, the project would facilitate the formation of
a broad-based national response to HIV/AIDS care and
treatment through the building of a strong, functional care
and treatment network, the enactment of laws, legislation
and policies that will guarantee access to treatment for
PLWHA, as well as strategies for proper implementation of
these laws and policies.

The project will target people living with HIV/AIDS, the
media, policy-making and implementation institutions, the
human rights community, medical personnel and other
professionals working in the field of HIV/AIDS.

The project will be carried out through five core
activities. These include consultative meetings and
roundtables with stakeholders in four selected locations in
Nigeria. The meetings will serve as a forum to conduct a
needs assessment of the various stakeholder groups and will
also aim at building a wide body of potential network
contacts and achieving multi-sectorality in the campaign.

Five nos. capacity-building workshops will also be held
with groups of stakeholders across the country, including
the media, PLWHA networks, civil society organizations, the
local pharmaceutical industry and officials of both the
legislative and executive arms of government.

The project would also include the production and
dissemination of bi-monthly newsletters to update
stakeholders on issues relating to access to treatment as
well as the creation of a website and listserv that will
collate, store and distribute critical information and
updates on access to treatment issues.

These activities will be carried out over a period of two
years, with start-up support provided by the Ford
Foundation, Office for West Africa.

To ensure effective implementation of the project, an
advisory board comprising people living with HIV/AIDS, care
providers, civil rights organizations, officials of the
health ministry and the legislative arm of government and
other relevant stakeholders is being set up to provide
review and monitoring oversights.

For further information about the project, please contact
the Project Officer at: [email protected]