Africans meet in Nigeria to share news on HIV/AIDS

African scientists and others involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the worst-hit continent opened a conference on Sunday in the Nigerian capital to pool the latest information and ideas.

Organizers said that while previous big international HIV/AIDS conferences aimed at raising awareness of the epidemic, the focus now is on finding ways to make better use of funds and implement projects more effectively.

“Our number one concern is to make the money work,” said Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS, at a news conference just before the launch of the 14th International Conference on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA).

More than 3 million Africans were newly infected with HIV in 2005 - more than in any previous year for the continent, and representing 64 percent of all new infections globally, according to UNAIDS.

Sub-Saharan Africa has about 10 percent of the world’s population but 60 percent of people living with HIV.

Femi Soyinka, president of ICASA, said that as well as topics like scientific advances and strategies for prevention and treatment, the conference would address the question of accountability in the use of funding for HIV/AIDS projects.

Africa receives billions of dollars in HIV/AIDS funding, mainly to pay for life-prolonging drugs and education campaigns on a continent where many national healthcare systems are broke and in tatters.

But with a complex web of government agencies and thousands of NGOs receiving funding, it is difficult to know precisely how the money is used, and experts say a lot of it does not reach the people who need it most.

Soyinka did not say what form the discussion on accountability would take, or who would take part.

ICASA was founded in 1986 by a group of African scientists. It is held every two years in African countries.

Organizers said this year’s meeting aimed to produce concrete recommendations that would be taken to a series of high-level meetings next yea, including a U.N. General Assembly session dedicated to HIV/AIDS.

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