Yinka Jegede-Ekpe

With more than 133 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. HSPH established the AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN) in 2000, after receiving a $25 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The adult AIDS prevalence rate in Nigeria is nearly six percent of the population.

Jegede-Ekpe is one of those affected directly by HIV, but she is "not a statistic or a figure," she said. Diagnosed with HIV as a 19-year-old nursing student, Jegede-Ekpe is now a 25-year-old qualified nurse, married to a military man, and a full-time spokesperson for Nigerian women with HIV.

She took to her bed upon hearing of her HIV diagnosis, waiting to die, she said. But eventually, she came to grips with her diagnosis and rose to become a leader among Nigerian people with HIV in their fight for recognition, rights, and health care access. Jegede-Ekpe went public with her diagnosis in 1997. She founded two organizations for people with HIV, one particularly for women, and helped formulate the country’s HIV/AIDS policies by serving on the National Action Committee on AIDS.

Her group Nigerian Community of Women with HIV/AIDS offers information, support and referrals to services to women with and affected by HIV, while advocating for the rights and economic empowerment of Nigerian women.

According to Jegede-Ekpe, "lower socio-economic status, biological vulnerability, and sexual interaction" make women particularly susceptible to HIV. She described a milieu in which "schoolgirls are lured into sex [with gifts and money] by men old enough to be their fathers," and married women have limited property rights. Her organization is now assisting a widow with six children whose late husband willed their marital property to his brother, apparently leaving no stipulations for his family’s care. Jegede-Ekpe and her husband personally have given the woman money for food.

Jegede-Ekpe went on to describe a calamitous moment experienced by a friend who was HIV-positive and pregnant. In labor, the friend attempted to go to a hospital to give birth, but the staff demanded she pay more money before helping her. They claimed they would need to replace medical instruments that came into contact with her blood. Her friend left before delivering the baby and sought care at a different hospital.

Phyllis Kanki, program director of APIN, spoke at the event.

Jegede-Ekpe urged women not to "sit and wait for other people to come out of the woodwork and solve our problems," but to become "part of decision-making at every level. We are not the problem, but part of the solution."

"Women all over the world should join together and be sisters in the fight against AIDS," she said.

The talk was sponsored by APIN; Reebok Human Rights Award Program; Harvard AIDS Institute, African Health Forum; and the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights. The event was followed by a reception featuring African dance, music and spoken words.

–CC