Nigeria has been ranked the best in the world in her National response to HIV and AIDS.
This is according to a report from the United States of America which reveals that among the countries getting the support of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief, (PEPFAR) across the world, Nigeria has the greatest yield in the last fiscal year (between September 2019 and October 2020).
The Director General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, Dr. Aliyu Gambo stated this in Abuja at the Presentation of the Stewardship of the HIV response in Nigeria (from 2007 to 2021).
Dr Gambo said despite the COVID-19 pandemic which affected the activities of the Agency in April and May last year in terms of case findings, it however rebounded strongly in the subsequent months, which made Nigeria to be recognized among six countries (Jamaica, Rwanda, Mozambique, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Botswana to have survive the impact of COVID-19.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation Mr Boss Mustapha said NACA had achieved it’s mandate of case Finding, managing and treating those with the Virus since the Inception Fourteen years ago.
He pledged Government’s continued support for the agency to achieve its 90-90-90 goal.
“at the time NACA was inaugurated in 2007, the challenges that confronted the agency were the burden of HIV related stigma, deficiency of the disease knowledge by most Health workers, lack of access to Treatment, absence of various prevention efforts, lack of effective social outreach but because of the efforts of the past and present leadership of the agency, most of this challenges have been somounted. In the last 14 years, I make bold to say that this agency has achieved so much in it’s Mission to the admiration of the Federal Government”
The UN AIDS country Director, Dr. Erasmus Morah, said Nigeria for the first time is in sight to achieve the 90-90-90 goal stressing the need for NACA to remain focused.
Leave a Reply