World Aids Day: Nigerian government commits to increased testing
By Gloria Essien, Abuja
The Nigerian government says it would leave no one behind and make sure no one dies as a result of HIV in the country.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, made the promise at an event organised by the National Agency for the Control of Aids, to mark World Aids Day 2020, in Abuja.
He said that Nigeria as a country aligns fully with the global solidarity and shared responsibility which requires the country to view global health responses, including the AIDS response, in a new way.
“The appropriation and release of a minimum of 1% of consolidated revenue from the federation account to the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund has provided a strong financial base for sustained funding of primary health care and set the tone for the implementation of State Social Health Insurance Schemes nationwide. It is my recommendation that all States fully implement Social Health Insurance Schemes with the integration of HIV prevention and treatment services,” Boss Mustapha said.
He also urged drug manufacturers in Nigeria to, in line with the President’s Executive Order on local content expedite efforts towards the production of Anti-Retroviral Drugs and HIV test kits within the Country.
“To this end the Nigerian Government is grateful to all our Partners, The United States Government, United Nations Joint Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) and indeed the UN system, The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for their collaborative roles in supporting HIV Prevention and Treatment services in Nigeria. 1 therefore call on the private sector to work more with NACA and the Nigerian Business Coalition against AIDS for a sustained access to life saving medicines, vaccines and diagnostics,” Mustapha said.
He therefore assured stakeholders of Government’s commitment to ensure human rights are respected, rights of women and girls as well as gender equality are at the centre of providing health services as we work towards zero new HIV infections by 2030 and attaining the 95:95:95 global HIV/AIDS Targets.
The Nigerian minister of health, Dr. Osagie, encouraged all Nigerians to take up the responsibility of knowing their HIV status by going for a test.
“I acknowledge improvements in HIV treatment coverage despite COVID-19 Induced disruptions. By the end of June this year, we had 1,228,100 patients on ART, a good 150,000 patients more than we had in June last year, and a fulfillment of the pledge made by His Excellency the President, to increase the number of persons on HIV medication,” Dr. Ehanire said.
He also said that there is need to continue to raise awareness about HIV, promote the rights of people living with HIV, and importantly, ensure access to life-saving HIV medicines for them.
“This year has been unique because of the new challenges to our Health System and our lives brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, in spite of which, I am pleased to note we are still on track to ending the AIDS epidemic in Nigeria,” The minister said.
He also stressed that the theme for this year, ‘United to End AIDS in the Midst of COVID-19’, is about shared responsibility. Shared responsibility is no longer an option.
“We reaffirm the critical role of country ownership and sustainability as important elements of the endeavor, including domestic investment, an enabling environment and ensuring people-centered policy-making and implementation. It has also been demonstrated that community-led actions can help improve access and quality of services.
’’We are committed to achieving epidemic control and the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. We know that intensive effort will be required to achieve this. It is against this background that the National Treatment and PMTCT Programme – NTPP – has been reinvigorated, with the support of our partners, to strengthen the health sector response. We have also adopted new, evidence-based approaches that ensure services are accessible to everyone needing it. The new National Guidelines for Prevention, Treatment and Care and the National Acceleration Plan for Paediatric and Adolescent HIV Treatment and Care are examples of two initiatives which we shall be presenting here today,” Dr. Ehanire added.
In his welcome address, the Director General of the National Agency for the Control of Aids, NACA, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, encourage all Nigerians to take up the responsibility of knowing their HIV status by going for a test.
On his part, the World Health Organisation Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Mulombo said: “December 1 every year, the global community comes together to mark World AIDS Day to show support for people living with HIV and to remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS.
”Globally, there are 38 million people living with HIV and 67% of them are living in the WHO African Region. In 2019, more than 1 million people in the Region were newly infected with HIV, accounting for 60% of the global total, and sadly, 440,000 people in the Region died from HIV-related causes.”
Other partners at the event also pledged more support for HIV response in Nigeria.
