DG NACA Assures of Availability of HIV Drugs in Nigeria
By Martins Abochol
The Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, Dr Temitope Ilori,, has assured Nigerians of adequate availability of HIV drugs in all hospitals in Nigeria.
Ilori made the declaration on Wednesday at the Inauguration of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMCT) and Peadratic HIV/AIDS Accelerated Committee in Jalingo, Taraba State.
She said there was a serious commitment by 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.
She gave assurance that the government would not fail in its responsibility to reduce the prevalence to the barest minimum as well as to sustain the fight to ensure that Nigeria is AIDS free.
The Director General urged the committee to ensure that Taraba becomes HIV free in the nearest future, adding that the mother to child transmission was another common source of spreading the pandemic.
She also said the agency is working hard in collaboration with different partners to ensure the campaign and response to the pandemic gets to the nook and cranny of Nigeria.
She also sought for the collective efforts by all stakeholders in the sector to ensure the eradication of HIV AIDS in Nigeria.
She explained that 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.
Ilori commended Taraba State for its sustained response toward correcting the earlier narratives as the highest state with HIV AIDS prevalence rate in the North East.
Earlier, Dr Bodiya Boma, Commissioner for Health in Taraba State said the state is working assiduously to reduce the prevalence rate from 2.9 pee cent to a more insignificant rate.
Boma said the present administration in the state had given its second priority to health after security, saying funding of the PMCT by Gov Agbu Kefas of Taraba State would lead to eradication of the pandemic come 2030.
In his remark, Pharm Oliver Wubon, Chairman Board of Taraba AIDS Control Agency (TACA) commended NACA for the initiative.
Wubon gave assurance that Gov. Kefas was ready to source for resources from any where to fund HIV AIDS projects.
He challenged the committee members to ensure no child was born with HIV again in the state. (NAN)
