Abstract:
There is an understanding that greater availability of HIV treatment for the 40.3 million people currently infected
with HIV is a humanitarian imperative that could prolong the lives of millions, restore economic productivity, and
stabilise societies in some of the world’s hardest-hit regions.The Nigerian government recognises that the country
has the third highest burden of infection, with people living with HIV estimated to total 4.0 million, and so in
2002 commenced the implementation of one of Africa’s largest antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programmes.A
successful ARV programme requires that all components of a functional management system be put in place for
effective and efficient functioning.This would include logistics, human resources, financial planning, and
monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as sustainable institutional capacities.The Nigerian national ARV
treatment training programme was conceived to meet the human resource needs in hospitals providing ARV
therapy.This paper reports on the evaluation of the training programme. It examines knowledge and skills gained,
and utilisation thereof. Recommendations are made for improved training effectiveness and for specific national
policy on training, to meet the demand for scaling up therapy to the thousands who need ARV.
