NIGERIA has set up an HIV/AIDS centre to ensure better coordination of researches into the endemic in the West African country.
The centre, funded under the Enhancing National Response (ENR) programme of the Department for International Department (DFID), aims to make HIV/AIDS related researches like Nigeria AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS), Modes of Transmission (MOT) Study,Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey (IBBSS), among others, available to stakeholders.
The Director, Capacity Building (ENR)/Programme Manager, Health ActionAid Nigeria, Ipoade Omilaju, told The Guardian that reports of critical researches on HIV/AIDS had been lost because of poor coordination and as such, could not be used by stakeholders.
He said: “Because of the ineffective coordination of NACA (the National Agency for the Control of AIDS) over the years, the reports of various past researches and projects cannot be found. So, if the reports are not there, this simply means that people cannot have access to them.”
He said the centre has been computerized to make it robust for interactive online use.
The National Agency for the Control of AIDS stressed that the centre was part of efforts to accelerate Nigeria’s national response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The Director General of NACA, John Idoko, said the National HIV/AIDS Resource Center (NHRC), at the extension building of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) in Abuja, is a clearinghouse and repository of national and state level information on HIV/AIDS and related health conditions.
“It is virtual focal point and channel for materials, methodologies, best practices, tools and resources for HIV interventions and for conducting effective monitoring and evaluation and operations research,” Idoko said.
He stressed how limited access to research outputs for stakeholders involved in the national HIV/AIDS response had slowed down the work of stakeholders, maintaining that knowledge and information lack value unless they are used systematically to inform decisions to improve health outcomes.
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