E-mail Networking in a Resource-Poor Setting: The Nigerian Experience

Issues:

Access to timely, accurate information and sharing of knowledge is vital to the success of any HIV/AIDS intervention. In communities where distance, poor transportation and communication facilities and lack of access to medical journals etc, are common, the e-mail presents an effective medium to reach out to HIV/ADS workers at a low cost.

Project:

Development of an e-mail listserve that will serve as a discussion forum and resource list for AIDS workers in Nigeria and that will circulate timely information on the AIDS situation in the country to interested members of the international community.

Description:

In December 1998, Journalists Against AIDS, a Nigerian media-based network, began publication of the Nigeria AIDS Bulletin on e-mail. From an initial list of only six subscribers, the bulletin now has over 320 subscribers (as at December 1999), one-third of whom are individuals/organisations working in remote parts of Nigeria. Based on the results of a user survey, the bulletin is now being expanded into a discussion forum that includes news on general health issues, interviews with workers on the field, action alerts, a resource-list and information on forthcoming conferences etc. In the run-up to the Durban 2000 conference, a new listserve was developed in addition, that circulated news updates and application information etc about the conference.

Conclusion:

Email networking has proved to be a cheap, effective and reliable strategy for building support and solidarity among AIDS workers and for keeping fieldworkers in remote areas in touch with latest developments in he country context and across national boundaries. It is highly recommended as a means of organised communication and interaction between AIDS workers on a local, national and cross-national scales.