Ethiopia - Country Progress Report - unaids

Report on Progress towards Implementation of the UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS
3. The National Response to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Ethiopia
The national response to the AIDS epidemic in Ethiopia is the sum of the collective efforts of many actors, notably
the government, multilateral and bilateral partners, international and local NGOs, associations of PLHIV, faith-based
organizations, community-based organizations, the private sector, civil society organizations as well as individuals.
The following review of the national response to HIV/AIDS relies on annual reports of HAPCO, the National Composite
Policy Index (NCPI) questionnaire returns/responses, HIV/AIDS policy and strategic planning documents, the Health
Sector Development Program (HSDP) III, the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP)
and other related documents.
3.1. National Commitment and Action
This section of the report looks into national commitment and action as measured in terms of the amount of domestic
resources devoted to HIV/AIDS-related activities and in national adoption of policies and practices set forth in the
Declaration.
In order to assess the progress made in the development and implementation of national-level HIV/AIDS policies
and strategies, Part A of the National Composite Policy Index Questionnaire was used. Eleven organizations were
interviewed, including HAPCO, the Regional Health Bureaus of Addis Ababa and Oromia, the Federal Police and the
Ministries of Transport and Communications, Labour and Social Affairs, Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Defense.
Part B of the National Composite Policy Index Questionnaire focused on human rights and civil society involvement.
Eighteen organizations were interviewed, including five government institutions, three bilateral/multilateral
institutions and nine NGOs/CBOs. Separate indexes have been calculated for each policy area by adding up the scores
for the respective specific policy indicator and calculating the average of the scores given by the respondents.
3.1.1. Government Response
The Since 1985, the following measures have been taken by the government to control the transmission and mitigate
the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Government endorsed a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy in 1998 and
established in 2000 the National AIDS Council (NAC) under the office of the Prime Minister. The President of Ethiopia
heads the NAC, which consists of 85 members drawn from multiple sectors including regional administrations and
private organizations (see Figure 8). The National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) was established by
Proclamation in July 2002 as the executive arm of the NAC.
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