This post explains what APIN is, what they stand for and what they do.
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Introduction
If you are attentive to the news and events going around with regards to NGOs, the name APIN must have surfaced once or more times. Do you want to find out more about APIN Nigeria? Read on.
What is APIN?
APIN means “ AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria”. The main name is Apin Public Health Initiatives Limited, since it was registered in Nigeria.
When was APIN Established?
In talking about an organization, one of the things you would want to know is when the organization was born. This will enable you appreciate how far the organization has come in carrying out its activities or duties.
Apin was established in 2007. It was then called “AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria”
However, in 2018, it officially became known as “APIN Public Health Initiatives”
In order to understand what APIN is all about, we will first need to look at what public health means and then some public health problems.
This will enable us understand why some interventions and public health initiatives are needed. We can then be in a better position to appreciate the work that APIN does
WHAT IS PUBLIC HEALTH?
One of the fathers of public health, Charles-Edward A. Winslow, in 1920 defined public health as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing service for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health”.
When we talk of public health, the starting point is prevention of disease. This is why a lot of health education and public enlightenment campaigns are needed in our society today.
Public health is concerned with improving the health of the populace. In order to have a society where everything is functioning as it should, making the health of the people better must be a top priority if development of that community is to be achieved.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “initiative” as “a new plan or process to achieve something or solve a problem”
So, APIN was born in a bid to bring about something new in the bid to tackle public health challenges as concerns Nigeria, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS.
WHAT PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM IS APIN SOLVING?
Apin describes herself as an NGO which provides “cutting edge, sustainable approaches to address HIV/AIDS and other diseases of public health importance in Nigeria in Nigeria and Africa”.
So we have discovered two things about APIN:
1) Their main area of public health initiative and intervention is in the area of HIV/AIDs
2) The location of their activities is in Nigeria and then Africa
HIV Statistics
In case you are not aware or have forgotten, we will refresh you with these statistics about HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, Africa and globally:
1) As at 2021, 38.4 million people all over the world live with HIV. Out of this number, 36.7 million are adults and 1.7 million are children not up to 15 years old (World Health Organization)
2) An estimated 1.5 million new people acquired HIV in 2021. Out of this number, 1.3 million are adults while 160,000 are children less than 15 years (World Health Organization)
3) About 650,000 people died from HIV-related causes worldwide in 2021. In this figure, 560,000 were adults while 98,000 were children aged below 15 years (World Health Organization)
4) There are more women living with HIV than men (19.7 million versus 16.9 million as at 2021). This data is from the World Health Organization
5) Akwa Ibom, Benue and Rivers States are the top three states in terms of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria
6) In 34 states in Nigeria, including the FCT females were more likely to get infected with HIV than males
7) The National HIV Prevalence in Nigeria is 1.4%. this means that out of every 1,000 Nigerians, 14 currently are infected with the HIV virus
8) According to UNAIDS and NACA, 1.9 million Nigerians are currently living with HIV/AIDS
So you see, when it comes to HIV, this is a very big problem and a challenging one at that.
Brief History of APIN
According to Dr. Prosper Okonkwo, who is the APIN Chief Executive Officer (CEO), APIN before APIN was registered in Nigeria in 2007, it first started as a project of the Havard School of Public Health, Boston, USA. This was in 2001.
It subsequently became an indigenous organization in 2007 when it was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
WHAT EXACTLY DOES APIN DO?
When you understand what an organization does, this makes you better informed. You can follow or monitor the activities of the organization and even check whether they are living up to their responsibility.
Apin works to build local capacity in order to ensure that programmes targeted at HIV/AIDS and other diseases in Nigeria are sustainable.
HIV/AIDS is a big area in Nigeria, which has attracted both government attention as well as the intervention of some international organizations and Non-governmental organizations.
However, a challenge is how to make the effects or impacts of these programmes to be long-lasting.
One critical aspect of public health is “community participation”.
People must be responsible for their health. They must “own” whatever public health issues which are rampant in their community. They must also be ready to collaborate well with whatever government or non-governmental agancies who have decided to give a helping hand.
This is where capacity building, training and empowerment of the local populace comes in. “Soldier come; soldier go; barrack will still remain”.
The governments and NGOs will come and go; but the communities facing the health challenges know how best to tackle their problems when equipped with the right knowledge, skills and capacities.
Some of the things APIN Public Health Initiatives does include:
1) Community-directed interventions
They have been involved in implementing public health programmes. These programmes include
*HIV/AIDS
*Sexual and Reproductive Health
*Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health
Within these programmes, they have tried to widen their reach to include vulnerable groups, children, adolescents, people living with HIV/AIDS.
The overall goal is to ensure that interventions carried out in these areas are effective and sustainable
2) Design, Development and management Of Clinical Laboratory Infrastructure
APIN supports the provision as well as the proper use of standard laboratory technologies
These laboratory equipment make it possible for improved services in terms of screening, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of diseases
3) Health Management Information System
Electronic Medical records is the in-thing now when it comes to handling the sick.
Having patient records in electronic form makes it very easy to access such records by the right authorities anytime it is needed.
It also makes for better monitoring of patients, analysis, decision making, intervention and management of such a patient.
It ultimately improves the standard of care
Apin has Electronic Medical Records systems deployed in over 500 HIV clinics in 8 states of Nigeria
4) Human Resource For Training And Capacity Building
APIN is involved in training human capacity for better service delivery in the health sector
They were certified in 2013 by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria as a CPD provider (continuing professional development provider).
They have trained over 1,000 doctors since then, in area of HIV service delivery and health systems improvement
5) They Provide Technical Assistance
When it comes to planning and organizing most health programmes, a lot of technicalities is involved. You may get lost in all the things that need to be organized and set up.
When it now comes to monitoring and following up on the health programme, more technicalities are involved too. This also boils down to determining the effectiveness of the programme and whether the intended results are being accomplished.
Because they have a lot of people with different skills and from various backgrounds, APIN is able to provide technical assistance to different projects and also ensure that these projects meet the public health needs of the intended audience or recipients of the interventions.
6) They Manage Health Commodities:
When we talk of health commodities, we mean drugs, laboratory items and test kits, among others, that are needed for good service delivery as regards healthcare.
What APIN does is that they work with the relevant stakeholders to see that the health commodities are sourced, stored in the warehouses and distributed as and when due without hitches. They also track and monitor the storage and distribution of these commodities electronically.
7) Organizational Development for Hospitals and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)
This organization is involved in training and capacity building for other Civil Society Organizations, as well as some hospitals too.
8) Research, Monitoring and Evaluation:
APIN collaborates with both local and foreign research outfits. It boasts of having published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles in the past 5 years. It also has a strong system when it comes to monitoring and evaluation of relevant health programs.
WORKING WITH APIN
APIN is a big organization with branches in many states of Nigeria. As such, it has a lot of people working with and within the organization so that it can achieve its objectives. The organization has up to 600 persons working with them.
You can work with them in either of these roles:
1) As A Volunteer
2) As An Intern
3) Member of staff
Volunteering With APIN
When you volunteer with an organization, you are doing so to either contribute your skills and talents, or to gain more skills and exposure. You also feel you have contributed to a greater cause or for the betterment of society.
APIN volunteering is an unpaid work.
Paid Internships At APIN
The essence of internship is to gain practical, real world experience. At APIN, internships function the same way too.
By doing an internship with APIN, you are able to understand how the department you are posted in functions and carries out its duties. You also get to know how different programs are planned and executed.
APIN paid volunteers receive monthly stipend.
Becoming An APIN Staff
From time to time, APIN needs and advertises for staff members for different positions within the organization
Note that APIN advertises for these available vacancies directly on its website. You can check here from time to time for available APIN latest vacancies and apply.
Note that, as with other NGOs, you do not need to give money to anybody to help you facilitate or process employment in APIN. Once APIN announces a vacancy and you meet the requirements, just go ahead and apply. If you are successful, you will be offered a job there. You don’t even need to know anybody working there or any influential person before you can start working at the organization.
In summary, we’re asking you not to fall victim to job scams or people who tell you they can get one job or the other for you once you pay them a certain amount of money.
How Much Is APIN Salary?
It depends on the position you are applying for.
Note that APIN volunteers are unpaid and interns are paid monthly stipends.
Where is APIN Located?
APIN is registered and operates in Nigeria. Their Corporate Headquarters Office address is at Plot 1551, Apo Resettlement Zone E, FCT, Abuja.
They also work in the following states of Nigeria:
1) Plateau State
2) Benue State
3) Enugu State
4) Anambra State
5) Ondo State
6) Ekiti State
7) Osun State
8) Oyo State
9) Ogun State
10) Lagos State
APIN LEADERSHIP
APIN has the following:
1) A Management Team: The APIN management team is headed by Dr. Prosper Okonkwo who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
2) Board of Directors
3) Board of Trustees
CONCLUSION
We’ve seen from this post what APIN is all about as well as what they do. Have you come in contact with this organization?
Do you think their work is really having an impact in the area of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria?
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