Key Achievements

Nigeria

With an adult HIV prevalence of 5.8 percent, Nigeria has the third largest HIV burden in sub-Saharan Africa and the fourth largest in the world. Almost 3.6 million Nigerians are infected with HIv , and 840,000 children and youth have been orphaned by AIDS. USAID and its partners have created a comprehensive prevention and care program that includes changing behavior to avoid or decrease risk; mass media and and interpersonal communications; the country's first voluntary counseling and testing centers; a national emergency action plan; and support projects for people living with HIV/AIDS and children affected by HIV/AIDS. As a result of these efforts, prevention messages reached more than 3 million people in fiscal year 2001.

Namibia

Namibia currently has 47,000 children orphaned by AIDS. With adult HIV prevalence at 22.5 percent in 2001, these numbers are likely to grow significantly. USAID has supported the drafting of a national policy on orphans and vulnerable children and provided assistance in the form of food, books, school uniforms, and counseling to more than 1,000 orphans.

Ukraine

In 2001, USAID initiated a pilot activity in Odessa oblast, Ukraine, to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission and create a sustainable model adaptable to other cities and countries in the region. Project results in 2002 showed that the transmission rate had declined since 1997/99 by 50 percent, from 24 to 12 percent. Early detection of HIV-positive status, an increase in delivery by caesarean section, and administration of antiretroviral therapy to both mother and child contributed to this decline.

Bangladesh

Although HIV prevalence in Bangladesh is low, the risk behaviors of some population groups suggest there is a high potential for a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic. USAID's goal is to keep HIV prevalence in in high-risk groups below 5 percent through behavior change interventions and by enhancing the capabilities of nongovernmental organizations to provide HIV/AIDS outreach and sexual transmitted infection treatment services. Outreach counseling services held 235,000 peer-to-peer meetings around the country last year, and more than 1 million people in high-risk behavior groups attended group sessions on HIV education and prevention. Another 42,000 people received treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

Rwanda

in Rwanda, access to quality clinic-based HIV/AIDS services is very limited for anyone living outside the capitol of Kigali. USAID has provided technical assistance, materials development support, training, and equipment to help establish services across the country. USAID is currently assisting 18 voluntary counseling and testing centers in six of the country's 11 provinces. Four of these centers opened in the last year. Two sites for preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission (the third and fourth funded by USAID) and two pilot sites outside Kigali for prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections also opened. One USAID-supported activity provided prenatal HIV/AIDS counseling to more than 2,000 pregnant women; voluntary HIV/AIDS testing to more than 85 percent of these woman; and nevirapine treatment to 49 HIV-positive women and 57 infants.