The national HIV seroprevalence in Nigeria has risen steeply from about 3% in 1993 to 5-8% in 2001 and now stands at 4.4%.HIV epidemic continues to be a serious threat to the most populous country in Africa with a population of 140 million, with limited use of antiviral drugs that is taken for life since it only suppresses the virus without completely eliminating the virus or leading to cure.Only a change in social behavior and an affordable vaccine can halt the epidemic in Africa.We report Early Learning Toy here results of a pilot study on the recruitment strategies, sociodemographic aspects and HIV risk behavior of a cohort of normal volunteers recruited at the University of Jos, Nigeria.
Our study recorded a high degree of interest and zeal to participate in HIV vaccine studies by volunteers, and demonstrated the superiority of snowballing over invitation by mail, as a recruitment strategy.A cohort of university students may be particularly suitable for conducting HIV vaccine trials because of the assurance of prospective follow-up for up to four years (time to graduation), and a good understanding of the risks and benefits of participation as outlined in the informed consent.We had 100% retention during a follow-up period of two years.Most importantly, the cohort reflected a relatively low HIV WILD YAM seroprevalence, which gives preventive programs the potential to blunt or halt the epidemic.