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US to Assist Nigerian Military On HIV/Aids

P.M. News (Lagos)
NEWS
August 24, 2004
Posted to the web August 24, 2004

The U.S. government will assist Nigerian military in fighting the HIV/AIDS
scourge which pose serious challenges to global peace and stability.
Senator Chuck Hagel of the U.S. made the pledge in Abuja yesterday at a joint
press briefing with the Minister of State for Defence, Chief Roland
Oritsejafor.
Hagel said the U.S. government had earmarked 600,000 dollars for the provision
of new equipment, capacity building and the upgrading of the military
healthcare and HIV/AIDS treatment.
He said the Mogadishu Barracks laboratory in Abuja would serve as training
centre to expand the reach of the treatment to the military.
Hagel said that the centre would not only treat soldiers and their families,
but also the civilian staff of the Ministry of Defence and the people living in
the locality.
He said that the focus of the laboratory would be on vaccine research for HIV/
AIDS, adding that it would also provide a range of care from testing and
diagnosis to anti-retroviral therapy.
It will also provide treatment for opportunistic infections such as
tuberculosis.
Hagel said that permanent U.S. personnel would be assigned to assist in the
establishment of laboratory, vaccine research, and the training of Nigerian
personnel next year.
Responding, Oritsejafor described Nigeria as an important player in global
peacekeeping operations that needs a healthy military.
He said that Hagel's visit was part of the existing military relations between
the two countries.
Hagel is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Sub-Committee on
International Economic Policy, Export and Trade Promotion.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Hagel, Oritstejafor, the U.S.
Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. John Campbell and some senior military officers from
both countries inspected the laboratory.

   

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