The National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA has solicited the support of the Federal and State governments in Nigeria towards fighting the HIV/AIDS scourge to a standstill.
The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the agency, Senator Dipo Odujinrin, made the appeal, on Tuesday, in Ibadan, at the Southwest Zonal Technical Meeting of the agency.
The meeting, which brought together government functionaries and stakeholders in the health sector and partners from the private sector, among others from the Southwest region, was to review the activities of the agency and design a way forward.
Addressing the meeting, Senator Odujinrin decried the dwindling support of Federal and State governments in the control of HIV/AIDS.
He said it was unacceptable that the support of foreign donors, which constitutes about 80 percent, was higher than that of government, with the federal government at 18 percent, state governments under one percent and the private sector, one percent.
Odujinrin posited that the contributions of all stakeholders present at the meeting remained key and essential towards reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the region and Nigeria at large.
In her remarks, the Southwest Zonal Coordinator of NACA, Ronke Adeoye, disclosed that the meeting was aimed at sharing ideas and moving the region forward, in terms of access to care.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Health in Oyo State, Dr Taiwo Ladipo and the Executive Secretary, Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OyoSACA), Lanre Abass, unanimously said all hands must be on the deck in combating the pandemics that follow outbreaks of viruses in the country.
Stakeholders at the meeting however called for the support of government and agreed to work together in order to safeguard the wellbeing of the masses.
Confidence Okwuchi
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