Obasanjo heads anti-AIDS campaign

President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken control of Nigeria’s fight against AIDS, according to an official statement quoted by news organisations on Monday. Obasanjo now chairs an HIV/AIDS Ministerial Action Programme Committee (MAPC), whose other members include his deputy and the ministers of health, education, information, defence, culture, women’s affairs and youth development. The Nigerian president has also approved the creation of a working panel on HIV/AIDS which will report directly to the MAPC. Presidential Spokesman Doyin Okupe said Obasanjo wanted to raise public awareness of the disease and was fulfilling a promise he made on World AIDS Day in December to lead the campaign. The Nigerian government’s statement coincided with a UN Security Council meeting on Monday on ‘The situation in Africa: the impact of AIDS on peace and security.’ The meeting, chaired by US Vice President Al Gore, marked the first time that the Security Council had come together to specifically debate a health issue, the UN news service reported.