Chukwumuanya Igboekwu

Chukwumuanya is a young doctor working for an NGO based in the Niger State, North Central Region, Nigeria. He is currently the Program Manager of YCSR’s HIV/AIDS project which is aimed at reducing the spread and burden of HIV/AIDS in the North Central Region through education and care and support services. The HIV/AIDS prevention program at YCSR involves community awareness programs in schools, as well as awareness programs in local communities and advocacy visits to government officials and policy makers in order to encourage these groups to give more priority and to invest more funds in HIV/AIDS control programs. In previous months, Chukwumuanya’s advocacy work has been focussing on lobbying the government through the media in order to get them to fulfil their obligations under article 12.2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and Guideline 6 of the International Guideline on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. Chukwumuanya wants the government to fulfil their obligations by committing more funds to HIV/AIDS programming activities and the provision of affordable medicines for people living with HIV/AIDS. Chukwumuanya hopes to work with various stakeholders within his region at the conclusion of the training to bring affordable, effective and safe generic versions of ARV medicines into the Niger state. To do this he hopes to work with the Federal Ministry of Commerce, the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA), Care People International, the Niger State Chamber of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture and the Nigerian Parliamentary Committee on HIV/AIDS.