The National AIDS Resource
Center (ARC) in Addis Ababa serves as Ethiopia's premier source
of HIV and AIDS information. The ARC is a central library and clearinghouse
for the most up-to-date and accurate multimedia materials on HIV
and AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and tuberculosis
(TB). These resources provide a broad range of health, policy professionals
and the general public with crucial information to fight the battle
against HIV and AIDS.
The ARC was created in December 2002 through a multi-dimensional
partnership and was launched as the first center of its kind in
Ethiopia to support the Ethiopian Government's HIV and AIDS Programs.
The ARC is supported by United States through President
Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR, www.pepfar.gov)
through the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC-Ethiopia, www.cdc.gov)
with technical assistance from the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication
Programs (CCP, www.jhuccp.org).
One of the mandates of the ARC is to engender capacity building and sustainability of HIV and AIDS information and resources provision by expanding its services to other Ethiopian regions by establishing regional AIDS Resource Centers in each of Ethiopia's 11 regions. The regional sites will replicate the activities and services of the national ARC at the regional level. HAPCO, the ARC, CDC, and CCP opened the first regional center in Tigray Region in late october, 2007.
As with the national ARC, the Mekelle ARC in the Region , serves as a regional hub for a host of resources and services, such as a comprehensive multimedia reference collection, high-speed computer terminals with internet access, audiovisual equipment, and access to the databases of local and international HIV and AIDS organizations and funding opportunities.click here
