The National Agency for AIDS has assured Nigerians of adequate availability of HIV drugs in all hospitals in Nigeria.
The Director General of the National Agency for AIDS, Dr. Temitope Ilori, gave the assurance at the Inauguration of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMCT) and Pediatric HIV/AIDS Accelerated Committee in Jalingo, Taraba state.
The charge follows the recent announcement by the President of The United States of America, Donald Trump, to withdraw from the supply of HIV drugs.
Just after taking office on January 20, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order that paused foreign aid assistance for an initial duration of 90 days.
in her reaction, Ilori said the Federal Government through the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to enhance budgetary provision for HIV/AIDS Control to ensure adequate availability of drugs and testing kits.
The DG further sought for the collective efforts by all stakeholders in the industry to ensure the eradication of HIV AIDS in Nigeria.
“The inclusion of interfaith groups in the just inaugurated committee was to ensure sensitisation of women towards access to testing during antenatal and postnatal periods.
While commending the Taraba State govt for its sustained response toward correcting the narratives as the highest state with HIV AIDS prevalence rate in the North East, the NACA DG assured that the government would not fail in its responsibility to reduce its prevalence to the barest minimum as well as to sustain the fight to ensure that Nigeria was AIDS-free.
She also urged the committee to ensure that Taraba was HIV-free shortly, adding that mother-to-child transmission was another common source of spreading the pandemic.
African countries bear the biggest burden of the HIV epidemic, with an estimated 25 million living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, out of the total 38 million people living with HIV worldwide.
PEPFAR, which started in 2003, is credited with saving 26 million lives, according to UNAIDS. The program’s spending totals approximately $120bn since its inception.
