Communiqué developed during Community Forum on HIV/AIDS organised by Network on Ethics/Human Rights, Law, HIV/AIDS with support from International HIV/AIDS Alliance

Communiqué developed during Community Forum on HIV/AIDS organised by Network on Ethics/Human Rights, Law, HIV/AIDS.

Preamble: Network on Ethics, Law, HIV/AIDS (NELA), as a key player in the prevention and control of HIV in Nigeria, annually shares its work, lessons learnt, best practices, challenges and future plans with other key stakeholders in Nigeria. This year’s forum themed HIV/AIDS and the community: The Past, Present and Future was developed through presentations and discussions on different thematic areas with emphasis on community responses to implement HIV/AIDS programming.

At the end of the forum the following communiqué was developed.

1. Community involvement and participation in HIV prevention, care and service delivery need to be given adequate attention as part of the National response to HIV epidemic.

2. The Federal Government initiatives and political will on HIV/AIDS is highly commendable. However, frantic efforts need to be geared toward increasing the uptake of VCCT services realising the fact that VCCT is a pivotal entry to prevention, treatment, care and support. It should also be integrated into the national health care system

3. Decentralisation of ARV administration and treatment into Primary Health Care Centres is germane to provision of comprehensive care and treatment to the teeming population of PLWHA in Nigeria.

4. The Federal government through NACA should develop a training kit on ART adherence counselling with active involvement of key stakeholders (health workers, policy makers, CSOs, PLWHA, networks etc), which should be widely disseminated.

5. Civil society organisations are in better positions to reach all communities through their networks and branches if empowered technically and financially.

6. Meaningful involvement of PLWHA in community based HIV/AIDS work is a key strategy towards reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

7. The Nigeria government should intensify effort on mobilisation of fund locally to compliment donor support and ensure sustainability of the national response on HIV/AIDS.

8. Implementation of TB/HIV/AIDS collaborative activities at all levels of government will improve the quality of life of PLWHA.

9. CISHAN should take the lead in advocacy activities through mobilisation of their state chapters.

10. Ambassador of Hope Mission in Nigeria should be supported to widen their scope and operations across Nigeria.

11. PMTCT programme should be brought closer to the community through the primary health care system.

12. NACA/SACAs should intensify efforts on capacity development of community based organisations in the control of HIV epidemic in Nigeria.

13. Efforts should be intensified to scale up anti- stigma activities in Nigeria.