Annan envoy on AIDS in Africa continues fact-finding trip in Nigeria

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa arrived over the weekend in Nigeria on the final leg of a three-country fact-finding trip that began in Kenya and continued last week in Rwanda, a United Nations spokesman told the press today in New York.

While in Rwanda for a four-day visit, Stephen Lewis met with President Paul Kagame and other officials, including the Minister of Health and the National AIDS Commission.

In his meetings with President Kagame, Mr. Lewis emphasized the need for an up-to-date survey on AIDS prevalence rates, since Rwanda's present figures are based on data from 1997. The two men also discussed how Rwanda could gain access to the proposed Global Fund for AIDS and Health and how it could deal with the problem of AIDS orphans.

The Rwandan leader pledged his commitment to continued leadership on these issues, the spokesman said.