World Bank Press Release - November 13, 2003

A top priority of the HIV/AIDS Abidjan-Lagos Transport Corridor project is to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS among transport workers, migrants, commercial sex workers and local people living along the corridor. By complementing national AIDS programs in the Cote de Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria, the project will focus on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services in border towns and communities in this sub-region of western Africa. UNAIDS estimates that approximately 3 million people travel along the transport corridor each year. Assuming an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 10 percent among people who are infected traveling along the corridor, an estimated 300,000 people infected with HIV/AIDS travel annually along the corridor, creating a substantial risk of transmission to uninfected people. Today's new funding is part of the second stage of the Bank's MAP program.

"The MAP provides comprehensive support to African countries to manage a fully integrated response to combating the AIDS epidemic," said Callisto Madavo, World Bank Vice President, Africa Region. "This project supports the Western African Initiative, agreed to by governments that will be participating in this program. The new grant will also support the Bank's strategy to reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa."

The Western Africa Initiative (WAI) was started by the World Bank and executed by UNAIDS. Eighteen countries and two regional organizations are in the WAI, which aims to promote inter-country dialogue, foster co-operation, support benchmark projects, and encourage an expanded response to AIDS.

Key project components are to:

Expand HIV/AIDS prevention services for people working or living along the transport corridor, specifically supporting volunteering and counseling testing centers;

Improve HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support services; and, Build capacity in fighting the epidemic the areas along the corridor.

"Many worthwhile sub-regional AIDS initiatives have been started with widespread support from partners, but to date, limited funding and implementation hurdles have prevented them from broadening their reach," said Keith Hansen, World Bank Manager, AIDS Campaign Team for Africa. "The Abidjan-Lagos Transport Corridor project aims to fill a much needed gap, and will help to accelerate the implementation of national AIDS programs in the five countries along the corridor."

In West Africa, transport corridors are crucial for commercial activity, but they also are linked to faster transmission of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Various studies have identified the link between the movement of populations and the spread of disease and illness, particularly sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. Currently, there are few testing and counseling services available in the area. One of the key features of the project is to build capacity for these services, which play an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

"HIV/AIDS is a complex challenge which affects many countries without being limited by national boundaries," said Stephen Brushett, World Bank Senior Transport Specialist and Team Leader for the project. "The International Development Association (IDA) contribution through this first sub-regional project will make a significant contribution to addressing this challenge - helping to create the right institutional framework and creating the environment in which other official external partners as well as the private sector can make their contributions." Contributions to IDA enable the World Bank to provide $7 billion per year in interest-free credits to the world's 81 poorest countries, home to 2.5 billion people. This support is vital because these countries have little or no capacity to borrow on market terms. All of the Bank's new HIV/AIDS MAP funding for Africa, under IDA, became grants in July 2002.

According to the most recent UNAIDS report, an estimated 42 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS, 70 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa. New estimates, due to be released soon, will likely indicate an increase in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in many areas. Consequently, the MAP has made a priority of national AIDS programs to move more quickly. So far, the Bank has committed approximately US$866 million of the US $1 billion of MAP funding to 24 countries, and all other eligible countries now have MAP programs under preparation.

"We knew when we started the MAP program that individual country programs alone were not going to be adequate to curb the epidemic," said Debrework Zewdie, World Bank Director, Global HIV/AIDS Program. "Sub-regional programs will strengthen individual country AIDS initiatives." For more information on the Bank's work in health, visit: http://www.worldbank.org/aids

Contacts: Timothy Carrington (202) 473-8133 office

Tcarrington@worldbank.org

PhilHay (202) 473-1796 - office

(202) 409-2909 - cell

Phay@worldbank.org

Stevan Jackson (202) 458-5054- office

(202) 437-6295 cell

Sjackson@worldbank.org

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