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Aids Prevention Initiative Nigeria

APIN Newsletters

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Fall 2005

The Plus in PMTCT Plus

Mission Possible

Ethics in the Delivery Room

When is Breast Best?

Spring 2005

Update on APIN Plus

Safeguarding the Future

Harvard Initiative to Fund Research

Epidemic Trends in Jos

Winter 2005

Widening the Safety Net

Learning to Live Positively

Best Practices Across Borders

Lessons from Botswana

Celebrating a New Laboratory in Ibadan

Fall 2004

Raising Hope & Awareness

Access for All

Exploring Models of Care

A Call to Rewrite Rules

Scaling Up with APIN Plus

Summer 2004

APIN Plus Launched

A Nation Responds

Celebrating a New Laboratory

Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission

Winter 2004

National AIDS Conference

Vulnerability of Women to HIV

Celebrating a New Laboratory

Challenges of Managing HIV Disease

Fall 2003

On the Waterfront

Building Capacity

Continent Bands Together Against HIV

World STI/AIDS Conference

Summer 2003

APIN Expands into New State

The Learning Curve

AIDS Leader Mourned

Measure for Measure

Bringing Hope to Sex Workers

Spring 2003

Winter 2003

Summer 2002

Spring 2002

Winter 2002

Fall 2001

Summer 2001

Spring 2001

 Safeguarding the Future

June 2005 - Nigeria has the world's highest number of AIDS orphans, and already at least 270,000 Nigerian children are infected with HIV. APIN Plus, the Nigerian component of the Harvard PEPFAR program, recently hosted a conference in Abuja to explore strategies for both preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and providing treatment to children living with the virus.

"As we scale-up PMTCT and begin implementing pediatric treatments within the Harvard PEPFAR program," says Professor Phyllis Kanki, principal investigator of the program and director of APIN, "it's important that we incorporate best practices into our work. With this multidisciplinary conference, we sought to sharpen our focus, update our knowledge, and define new protocols."

APIN staff are now poised to tackle several specific objectives: reviewing relevant clinical and pharmacological data on antiretroviral treatments for children; evaluating and strengthening efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to provide affected families with access to antiretroviral treatment and care; finalizing PMTCT and pediatric protocols; and articulating the social issues that affect the care of people living with HIV, with particular emphasis on families.

"We hope the participants left the conference with the knowledge and skills they need to care for pregnant HIV-infected women, prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and treat children living with HIV," says Professor Kanki. "We also recognize the importance of including the whole family in this approach—in many cases we will be providing treatment and care for both parents and some of the children. If we initiate the proper interventions, we hope the need for pediatric treatment will diminish."

 
For More Information: AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria
Harvard School of Public Health, 651 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02115 USA
Tel: +617-432-3297 Fax: +617-432-3298 Email:
apin@hsph.harvard.edu