Speech by: Ato Negatu Mereke

Head, HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you here today to celebrate the opening of the AIDS Resource Center. This is a special day for all of us who work in HIV/AIDS. This Center gives us access to one of the most comprehensive collections of up to date information on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis.

As we all know, access to accurate information is key to people being able to make informed decisions, whether on a personal or professional level. We also know that information is crucial to HIV/AIDS prevention, education and treatment. With new information being generated daily, it is essential that we have access to it. Think about the amount of research performed around the world, the number of documented interventions, statistics, best practices, policies and personal experiences. Until now, immediate access to this type of information in Ethiopia has been limited and its scarcity has caused us frustration and hampered our efforts to address this epidemic.

We have one person in particular to thank for the creation of the ARC, Dr Tadesse Wuhib, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, in Ethiopia. He has played the pivotal role in establishing the AIDS Resource Center, or ARC. He not only had the vision, but he took the initiative to mobilize the funds through the CDC’s Global AIDS Program and orchestrated the partnership of two of the most experienced HIV/AIDS information experts in the world, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs and Analytical Sciences Incorporated. The Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs has an international reproductive health and HIV/AIDS clearinghouse and has set up similar resource centers in many countries throughout the world. Analytical Sciences Incorporated manages the CDC’s HIV/AIDS National Prevention Information Network in the USA.

With technical assistance from these two organizations and a strong team on the ground, we believe that this AIDS Resource Center has been carefully built to meet our needs. I would therefore like to thank Dr. Tadesse Wuhib, for his unreserved contribution to enable us establish the AIDS Resource Center.

Our office is particularly proud to be associated with this project. The ARC assists us in our mission to co ordinate the activities of federal and regional government agencies and non-governmental organizations engaged in HIV/AIDS activities. It also helps us to collect and compile information on the general situation of HIV/AIDS in the country, and to disseminate this to all concerned. This will be achieved through the comprehensive web site and organizational, materials and HIV/AIDS activities databases that the center has developed. I also know that this is a project that has the potential to expand and grow and we will continue to support it in its efforts.

Finally, I would like to extend a special thanks to CDC, JHU/CCP and ASI for making this center a reality. I encourage you to explore the many services that the AIDS Resource Center has to offer.

Once again welcome, and thank you for coming.