The Nasarawa State House of Assembly Committee on Health has said it would continue to support the activities of the state Aids Control Agency( NACA) to tackle HIV/AIDs in the state.
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The Chairman of the Committee, Usman Labaran Shafa, made the call when the Management of NACA led by its Executive Director, Dr. Ruth Bello, appeared before the committee for the 2021 budget assessment at the assembly complex in Lafia.
Labaran Shafa said that supporting the activities of the agency would not only tackle the disease but would also improve the health status of the people of the state.
” We will continue to support your activities to take the agency to the greater height and to improve on the health being off our people,” he said.
Shafa called on the state government as a matter of urgency to provide NACA with permanent office accommodation.
The chairman commended the Executive Director of NACA, Dr. Ruth Bello, and her management team for being up and doing in tackling HIV/ AIDs in the state.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of NACA Dr. Ruth Bello, while presenting the agency’s 2021 budget performance, commended the committee for its support to the agency.
” Presently over 65,000 people are on HIV drugs while 22,000 people infected with HIV are not on drugs in the state.
” We will continue to educate, create awareness and sensitize people of the state on the danger of HIV and its prevention in the interest of the health of the people and for the overall development of the state,” she said.
The executive director, however, identified lack of permanent staff, inadequate overhead, funding, office accommodation among others as some of the challenges facing the agency in the state.
Similarly, the committee has also urged the state government through the Ministry of Health to ensure a stable power supply in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Lafia to create an enabling environment for teaching and learning.
Hon Usman Shafa, who made the call when the management of the school led by its Principal, Mr. Solomon Zari appeared before the committee for the school’s 2021 budget performance Thursday also called for the renovation of dilapidated structures in the school.
” In the course of our oversight, we discovered that there is no light (electricity) in students’ hotels and there are dilapidated structures in the school.
” I am calling on the Ministry of Health to do the needful by ensuring power supply in student hotels and put the school structures in good shape” Shafa added.
