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U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
Breaking NewS! President Obama signs Ryan White Act, Announces end of HIV Travel Ban On Friday, October 30, 2009, President Obama signed the Ryan White Care Act, reauthorizing the domestic U.S. HIV/AIDS program. In addition, he announced that his administration would take the final steps to end the ban barring people living with HIV/AIDS from entering the United States, a change that will be effective just after the New Year. He stated: "…Twenty-two years ago, in a decision rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS. Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease -- yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic -- yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country. If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And that's why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year. Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it. We are finishing the job. …" About USG PEPFAR Agencies in Nigeria Implementing Partners Fact Sheet The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has provided more than $1.5 billion U.S. dollars to fight HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Since its inception in 2004, PEPFAR has achieved encouraging results and made significant contributions to Nigeria's HIV response. Examples of these contributions as of March 2009 include: - More than 16,000,000 people have been reached with community outreach programs promoting Abstinence, Being Faithful, Correct and Consistent Use of Condoms (ABC), and other related preventive strategies;
- Approximately 3,700,000 people have been reached with HIV counseling and testing services;
- More than 1,300,000 pregnant women have been provided with health services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV;
- More than 400,000 individuals have been reached with HIV-related palliative care services, including TB/HIV and;
- More than 20,000 children orphaned by AIDS and other vulnerable children receive care and support
- About 240,000 men, women and children are on anti-retroviral therapy;
Equally important, the program supports Nigeria in the critical areas of human capacity development, policy development, and strengthening health systems capacity and effectiveness.
Success Stories  | | l-R: Anzaku and sibblings before PEPFAR's assistance |
Anzaku Bala is a 15-year old residence of Awogeshen Community in Akwanga, Nassarawa State. He has three siblings: Umaru (17) Ovey (11) and Ashezi (8). Their parents died of AIDS after a protracted battle with the disease. This long battle with the disease had depleted the family’s resources and after their parents passed on (father died in November 2003 and mother died less than a year later) the children were left practically destitute.Anzaku recalls that while their parents were alive and well, the family lived happily in an atmosphere devoid of discrimination and stigma. They had enough to eat because the parents were farmers. "After the episodes with HIV/AIDS, our life became a nightmare. Fearing that they might catch something from us, the people in the community left us to our fate", Anzaku declared.  | | Anzaku and sibblings following PEPFAR's assistance |
Anzaku managed to complete his primary school education with the help of Umaru, the older sibling. However, when the time came for Anzaku to start secondary school, the family, already in debt, had to take a loan to pay school fees. At this point, Umaru decided to drop out of school and embrace farming fully so he can help support his younger sibling’s education and sustenance". "All of us helped our brother in his farm work; and also worked as hired farmhands for other farmers just to earn something", Anzaku says. With all these efforts, the family only managed to pay off some of their debts. Life was hard. However, and, unbeknown to the family, help was on the way. A volunteer member of Parish Action Committee on AIDS (PACA), Catholic Diocese Lafia paid them a visit. After reviewing their situation, the volunteer linked them with the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program at OLA Hospital Akwanga, known as the Community Based Care and Support Project. PACA manages this program, which offers a full range of prevention, treatment, and care and support programs for persons infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. The program now takes care of the family, supporting their education and other needs. Anzaku and his two younger siblings are back in school and they have no need of worrying about paying school fees or paying for uniforms and materials as the program provides for all these needs. The program also supported Umaru with money to help him start some small business activities. The family receives food items, and when they are sick, the PEPFAR program at OLA Hospital provides treatment. PACA volunteers visit the family frequently to ensure that all is well with them. "In our home, we have the privilege of sleeping under a mosquito net. In addition, every last Saturday of the month we go to a meeting with other children like us. There, we play, sing songs and learn many things. Since the day we were linked to these people (PEPFAR implementers partners), our lives have changed for the better. Looking back, I can say that we have received a new lease of life", declares Umaru. Witchcraft not cause of HIV says "father of Mbo"- a PEPFAR beneficiary  | | Comrade Asuquo Emah - "Father of Mbo" |
Comrade Asuquo Emah, 53, tested positive for HIV in June 2003. This was after a prolonged illness attributed to his grandmother’s insatiable thirst for his blood. "My grandmother was actually accused of being the witch sucking my blood by some people in my village," says Comrade Emah. Barely a month after receiving antiretroviral therapy (medication for HIV treatment), Emah, who had been bedridden, started getting up from bed by himself, without the usual assistance of his wife and children. However, the cost of the antiretroviral was a huge challenge to Emah who had to spend N10,000 monthly to fund his treatment. Relief came when Emah was introduced to the U.S. President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief’ (PEPFAR) program in Nigeria, which commenced in 2004. This program provides free HIV prevention, treatment, and care. As a result, Emah’s health received a big boost and his CD4 count (body defense cells) that was depleted by HIV rose from a critically low 42 cells in 2005 to 521 cells as of June 2008. Emah wanted to give back to his community so he took part in the PEPFAR program that trains community partners as HIV counselors and peer educators. In a little more than two years after his training, Emah had referred more than 300 persons to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital – also a PEPFAR supported partner-institution. Of these 300 persons, 297 are on HIV treatment and care. Emah’s dramatic recovery from sickness and his community work against the scourge of the virus in his Mbo community, Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, has earned him the sobriquet: Ette-Mbo – father of Mbo. Most people that come to his home for counseling need little convincing that HIV is not caused by witchcraft, as he is a living example of this fact. "I don’t treat people; I just help them to get to hospital where they can receive proper treatment," Emah declared. Emah enjoys the assistance of his wife and eight children who have become his co-partners in this work even though they are not HIV positive. THE U.S. Government's PMTCT Program Changes Lives
 | | Patience and her HIV-free daughter |
Patience struggled unsuccessfully to get pregnant before she discovered her HIV+ status. Having weathered the storm of HIV disclosure on her young marriage, another storm loomed on her horizon, or so she thought. She had to learn to accept a life of childlessness in a culture where inability to procreate is perceived as a curse... more U.S. Government (USG) Supports Capacity Building for Improved HIV/AIDS Diagnosis and Treatment in Nigeria The U.S. Mission in Nigeria through the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recently facilitated two hands-on training workshops on HIV diagnosis and treatment monitoring for medical laboratory scientists in Nigeria. The two-week training drew participants from 14 military hospitals across Nigeria... more Press Inquiries? - For press inquiries contact:
US Embassy, Public Affairs Section, 1075 Diplomatic Way, Central Area, Abuja
Tel.: 234-9-4614000 Fax: 234-9-461-4010
Nigeria HIV/AIDS Policy Documents
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