History Of NACA
The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (formerly National Action Committee on AIDS) was established in February 2000 to coordinate the various activities of HIV/AIDS in the country. Among other purposes, NACA’s mandates are to:
- Coordinate and sustain advocacy by all sectors and at all levels for HIV/AIDS/STDs Expanded Responses in Nigeria;
- Develop the framework for collaboration and support from all stakeholders for a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary response to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria;
- Develop and present to the Presidential Council on AIDS, PCA, all plans on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria for policy decisions;
- Develop and articulate a strategic plan for an Expanded National Response to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria;
- Coordinate, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Strategic National Plan for the control of HIV/AIDS/STDs in Nigeria and all other approved policies;
- Coordinate and facilitate the mobilization of resources for an effective and sustainable response to HIV/AIDS/STDs in Nigeria, and
- Undertake any other duties as assigned by the PCA from time to time.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation with about 170 million people. It currently has reported HIV prevalence of 1.4%, next only to South Africa in the Sub-Saharan Africa. The Nigerian government’s response to the epidemic is based on a national strategic workplan known as the HIV/AIDS Emergency Action Plan, which originally was a four-year plan with a US $190million cost for programme execution.
The plan was designed to be jointly executed by the Government of Nigeria, bilateral donors, and a World Bank IDA credit.
The HEAP document identified over 200 activities which the government is to pursue over a four-year period. Designed to promote a multi-sectoral, participatory response to HIV/AIDS prevention and impact mitigation, the HEAP guided the implementation of activities and appropriate allocation of available resources.
In 2004-05 at the expiration of the life of the HEAP a new framework, the National Strategic Framework NSF was developed with wide participation from Civil Society, the Private sector, Government entities and implementing bodies and the international donor community in Nigeria. The NSF designed with a life span of 5 years would guide the National Response and all implementing and coordinating entities to contain the spreading epidemic.