Article: Former President Clinton Attends Abuja HIV/AIDS Conference

03 May 2001

Article: Former President Clinton Attends Abuja HIV/AIDS Conference

Cites progress in HIV/AIDS awareness

By Steven Lauterbach
Washington File Special Correspondent

Abuja, Nigeria -- Former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Howard Jeter joined Nigerians from government, the private sector, labor, and non-governmental organizations in a "Work Against AIDS" round table discussion at the Nicon Hilton Hotel in Abuja on April 27.

Also joining the round table were Sandra Thurman, former advisor to President Clinton on HIV/AIDS, and Valerie Dickson-Horton, the U.S. Agency for International Development's acting assistant administrator.

When he introduced the former president, Ambassador Jeter said the goal of the round table was to informally discuss strategies to combat HIV/AIDS, seeking insights from those who work in federal, state, and local government, the private sector, labor, and non-governmental organizations.

President Clinton, who like many of the participants had taken part in the African Heads of State Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Related Infectious Diseases, praised the recent decision of the pharmaceutical companies to make available anti-viral medication at lower costs.

The former president said, however, that the new drugs will require health care providers in Africa to identify persons needing the medication, to create an effective system of distribution, and to devise a means of checking on persons taking the drug therapy, in order to ensure that they are taking it properly. When antiviral medication becomes more widely available, he said, health care providers may be so challenged by obstacles to implement distribution of the drugs that HIV/AIDS prevention efforts will be neglected or even overwhelmed.

Governor Peter Odili of Nigeria's Rivers State, a medical doctor specializing in sexually transmitted diseases, pointed out the relative ignorance of the Nigerian public on HIV/AIDS. Governor Odili recommended more billboards, school education programs, and especially radio jingles, since radio is the one medium that penetrates even the most remote areas of Nigeria.

The governor also noted that government at all levels had too long refused to recognize the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He said too that legislation regarding sex workers is needed. While recognizing that such legislation would be controversial, he nevertheless expressed the opinion that "an unusual problem such as HIV/AIDS requires an unusual solution."

Matthew Ahwata, of the Pengassan trade union group, noted that petroleum industry workers in his state are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. They are relatively well paid, and they often spend several weeks working in remote areas, followed by several weeks off, which they often spend in large cities, where they may be infected by HIV.

Oni Olubunmi, chief executive officer of the Cadbury group, pointed out that the unemployed are a major "at-risk" group that has not been given sufficient attention in HIV/AIDS informational efforts. Unemployed youth are the most vulnerable in this category, several panel participants pointed out.

Those who claim to have discovered a cure for HIV/AIDS stimulated a great deal of discussion at the round table. Jerome Mafeni of the Futures Group noted that the news media in Nigeria tend to sensationalism, giving attention to those who claim to have discovered such a cure.

Femi Oke of Family Health International noted that even trained health care providers and counselors often remain believers in cure claimants, and that many persons living with AIDS see these claimants as their champions and benefactors. Establishing the distribution of antiviral drugs on a solid foundation will reduce false claims of cures, he said. Others urged more research to disprove false cure claims, while Ambassador Jeter urged public refutation of such claims by the Nigerian medical establishment.

Widespread distrust of government stemming from the long years of military rule is another factor bearing on the crisis. As one participant put it, any contact that an average Nigerian had in the past with government was a negative one. Another participant said, however, that "the past is the past, and people need to drop their cynical attitude toward government and realize that we are now in a democratic era."

Several participants noted that the private sector and NGOs cannot alone solve the HIV/AIDS problem. Government participation and public trust in government are also essential if the problem is to be resolved. There was unanimous agreement among the participants that no one group -- not government, industry, NGOs, or religious organizations -- could solve the problem alone. Rather, the efforts of all these groups are necessary.

Valerie Dickson-Horton noted that USAID has been active in efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria for many years. Even during the years of military rule, when relations between the United States and Nigeria were strained and U.S. aid to Nigeria was severely limited, anti-HIV/AIDS efforts continued and even expanded, she said.

In addition to providing traditional anti-HIV/AIDS assistance, Ms. Dickson-Horton said, USAID can help bring all players together. It can also help develop a model of program implementation so that each individual organization does not have to do this and can focus its efforts elsewhere.

Ambassador Jeter urged that Nigeria look toward other African countries for examples of effective strategies, such as Botswana's efforts to use "village brigades" to bring anti-HIV/AIDS efforts to remote areas. Sandra Thurman noted that the most effective efforts in the area of HIV/AIDS were on the community level, and that Nigeria could emulate this approach.

President Clinton concluded the discussion on a positive note. President Obasanjo's sponsorship of the summit was a very positive sign, he said, and it was also very significant that so many heads of state attended. Clinton also said that he had noticed a great deal of progress in HIV/AIDS awareness in the three years since his first visit to Africa in March 1998.

The former president also cited Brazil as an example of a country that has used anti-viral drugs effectively to reduce death rates from HIV/AIDS. While stopping the HIV/AIDS epidemic will be a very difficult task, it is not an impossible one, he stressed. Solving this problem, President Clinton said, would make the other challenges faced by Nigeria and Africa seem easy by comparison, and could serve as a model for meeting and overcoming these challenges.