Despite being one of the poorest nations in the world, Senegal owes its success in combating HIV/AIDS to proactive government leadership from the earliest days of the epidemic.

Senegal first formed a national AIDS policy in 1986. By 1987, the government was screening all blood donations for the virus. (Nigeria, by contrast, still has no such screening process, and 10 percent of all AIDS cases in that country are attributed to tainted blood.)

Another sign of Senegal's commitment to fighting HIV was its appointment of Dr. Souleymane Mboup, one of the scientists who discovered the HIV-2 strain of the virus common in West Africa, as the head of its National AIDS Council. Senegal was also the first African nation to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to discount the cost of AIDS drugs.

Thanks to swift government action, pervasive condom use and the conservative sexual mores of the nation's 90 percent Muslim population, AIDS in Senegal remains concentrated among high-risk groups. Prevalence rates among commercial sex workers run as high as 17 percent, but even here the government has a response: It has registered prostitutes since the 1970s; it has extensive monitoring programs in place; and it has successfully encouraged condom use among sex workers.

Less well served by Senegal are men who have sex with men (MSM), another at-risk group in concentrated epidemics. A 2004 study of 463 MSM in Senegalese cities found a prevalance rate of 21.5 percent. Amazingly, nearly 25 years into the epidemic this was the first study to track the prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted disease among MSM in sub-Saharan Africa. The conservative values that have kept AIDS in check since the 1980s have driven gay men underground; Homosexuality is a crime in Senegal, and 94 percent of MSM also have sex with women.

Senegal has received support from USAID since the 1980s, and the Global Fund has pledged $40 million to fight HIV/AIDS. Senegal has exported its expertise to other African nations, hosting international conferences and training other nations as part of the World Health Organization's "South by South" program.

* Note: Figures reflect most recent statistics from UNAIDS and the World Health Organization.

• Related Links
• UNAIDS Country Report: Senegal
  This page has UNAIDS statistics on HIV/AIDS in Senegal, an epidemiological fact sheet and analysis of the problem. It notes that although "HIV-1 prevalence has remained very low among antenatal clinic women in Dakar, prevalence among sex workers has increased gradually from less than 1 percent in
1986 to 14 percent in 2002."
• HIV Insite Country Report: Senegal
  Here is a comprehensive list of links to the major international reports on AIDS in Senegal, along with policy reports, news articles and links to aid organizations working in the country.
• "Senegal: A Beacon of Hope in Africa's Fight Against AIDS"
  A seven-part 2001 series on Senegal's success in combating HIV/AIDS.
• PlusNews HIV/AIDS Service for Africa: Senegal
  An Internet service provided by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, PlusNews is one of the few English-language sources of AIDS information for Senegal.