World AIDS Day: Oyo state targets 10,000 for screening

By Olubunmi Osoteku, Ibadan

The Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OYSACA) has said it is targeting no fewer than 10, 000 people for HIV screening throughout the State, as part of activities to mark this year’s World’s AIDS Day.

The Agency said the targeted testing is focused on the key drivers of the epidemic which comprises female sex workers, men who sleep with men, people who inject drugs and the transgender, in order to stem the spread of the virus amongst the groups, as well as the general population.

The Chairperson of the Agency who is also the wife of the State Governor, Mrs Tamunominini Makinde, made the disclosure on Thursday during a Press Conference to herald the commemoration of the 2020 World AIDS Day themed: “United to End AIDS Amidst Covid-19, Get Tested”.

Mrs Makinde noted that the world’s attention has been shifted to the COVID-19 pandemic which ravaged many things, including lives and livelihood, with high mortality rate and loss of job globally.

She noted that the coming of COVID-19 has attracted the attention of the whole world by becoming a wake-up call and an opportunity to do things differently, better and together.

Speaking through the Executive Secretary, OYSACA, Dr Lanre Abass, the wife of the Governor noted that, “It is very crucial at this time to work harmoniously and show love, eliminate stigmatisation and discrimination, individualised centre attention and grounding our responses in human rights and gender-responsive approaches that are key to ending the simultaneously occuring pandemics of HIV and COVID-19.”

Mrs Makinde disclosed that as at June 2020, over 765, 000 people had been counselled and tested for HIV and 0.9 percent were positive, over 230,000 pregnant women were screened for HIV and 0.3 percent of them tested positive, saying females are twice more affected than males, with 15,199 females on treatment as against 6,253 make on treatment, according to the available State service data.

She said,”Availability of commodities is critical to the success of HIV/AIDS response like any other communicable diseases. In this regards, the Oyo State government has so far procured test kits, condoms and consumables worth about N34million, while process is on-going to procure about N45million worth of test kits and other commodities.”

The wife of the Governor also highlighted a week-long list of activities planned to commemorate the year’s occasion, noting that the event would terminate on December 1, with a rally and mega jam at Sango Market, Saki.