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afrol News, 14 March - Nigeria will need 65 billion nairas (670 million euro) over a three year period to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, according to local assessments. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo this weekend expressed dismay at the continued rise of the scourge despite efforts by the government to check its spread. President Obasanjo participated in a discussion about Nigeria's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the Presidential Forum on HIV/AIDS on Saturday in Abuja. Ibironke Akinsete, chairman of the national AIDS action committee (NACA), at the meeting revealed that although the Funding Gap in over three year period is euro 256 million, euro 566 million is the total estimated need in a period of three years. Nigeria has obtained substantial donations from the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), each giving the sum of euro 106 million for five years. Organisations and foundations additionally have donated an estimated euro 100 million. According to the UN AIDS agency, just over 5 percent of Nigerians were living with HIV or AIDS at the end of 1999. The prevalence has now grown to 5.8 percent, new reports showed. These prevalence figures are considered "very conservative" by the President. Although HIV and AIDS is growing into a serious problem to which the government is sincerely dedicated, President Obasanjo says that many Nigerians were "still not sufficiently concerned over the disease." Obasanjo announced further steps to take its emergency enlightenment programme on the control of the disease to all parts of the country. Nigeria still has to suffer the high costs of the AIDS epidemic such as experienced in Southern Africa, where several countries experience prevalence figures over 20 percent and entire regions suffer economic setbacks and standstills and elevated health budgets; not to mention the human suffering. Sources: Based on World Bank,
Nigerian press and afrol archives
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