The African countries of Nigeria and Malawi have both stepped up their commitments to provide free antiretroviral meds to their citizens. Some 14 percent of Malawi’s 12 million citizens live with HIV; the country has just announced that it has begun providing free antiretroviral therapy to 20,000 infected children. It is estimated that since 2004, 30,000 children have contracted the virus each year, most commonly from their mothers during perinatal transmission.
Malawi has also increased its med delivery and treatment centers: from 36 in 2004 to 144 today. A free HIV drug distribution program launched in 2004 now serves approximately 110,000 adults.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the number of HIV treatment centers, which provide free medication to the country’s 3 million people living with HIV, has tripled. However, reports indicate that only 10 percent of Nigerians in need of antiretroviral therapy actually receive it.
In May, Nigeria received $50 million in additional funding from the World Bank—part of an original $90 million credit approved in 2001 to fight the pandemic. Nigeria has also signed a deal with former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s AIDS charity, the William J. Clinton Foundation, to produce cheaper antiretroviral medications.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
