The House of Representatives’ Committee on HIV/AIDS, Malaria Control,
Tuberculosis and Leprosy has warned about the danger in the
government’s dependence on donor agencies for funding of HIV and AIDS
programme in Nigeria.
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The committee’s Chairman, Dr Joseph Kigbu, told newsmen in Abuja that this was because the donor agencies could withdraw their support for the health programme in the nearest future.
Kigbu called on the Federal Government to intensify its financial commitment to the control and treatment of HIV and AIDS in the country.
“My opinion as the House committee chairman for HIV/AIDS is that the national response to HIV and AIDS is below average; we need to scale up our response.
“There are so many areas where we have not got it right. In terms of creating awareness, we have improved but in terms of funding, we have not done well as a country.
“It is 80 to 90 per cent donor funds we are using for the procurement of anti-retroviral drugs.
“Funds for capacity building, HIV awareness and testing are from donor agencies like the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria as well as the U.S. Centre for Disease Control,’’ he said
Kigbu said that the development aptly signified that Nigeria, like many other African countries, had failed to give priority importance to public health issues.
“We need to scale up our efforts; resource mobilisation is very important because if our donor partners, for any reason, have a natural disaster or economic shutdown; then, we don’t get those funds and the local supply chain of anti-retroviral drugs will be interrupted,’’ he said.
Besides, Kigbu expressed concern over the burden of HIV and AIDS in the country, saying that about 7, 000 new infections came from paediatric HIV/AIDS.
He also lamented that Nigeria was behind target in several important indicators, as not less than one million HIV-positive persons were not on anti-retroviral drugs.
He said that ideally, not less than 1.5 million citizens were supposed to be receiving medication, adding, however, that only 500, 000 HIV-positive people were currently on anti-retroviral drugs.
Kigbu said that the alarming number of those who were not on anti-retroviral drugs necessitated urgent government attention and intervention in order to control the spread of the disease.
He called on the Federal Government to scale up funding for the HIV and AIDS programme to enable increased procurement of drugs, while intensifying efforts to achieve zero new infections.
“What this means is that not less than one million Nigerians, who are HIV sero-positive, are just walking around the street, having sex and transmitting the virus; so, we must wake up and tackle the development,’’ he said.
He called on the government to increase its commitment to public health issues, expressing hope that President Goodluck Jonathan would address the public health issues more critically.
.jpg)
The committee’s Chairman, Dr Joseph Kigbu, told newsmen in Abuja that this was because the donor agencies could withdraw their support for the health programme in the nearest future.
Kigbu called on the Federal Government to intensify its financial commitment to the control and treatment of HIV and AIDS in the country.
“My opinion as the House committee chairman for HIV/AIDS is that the national response to HIV and AIDS is below average; we need to scale up our response.
“There are so many areas where we have not got it right. In terms of creating awareness, we have improved but in terms of funding, we have not done well as a country.
“It is 80 to 90 per cent donor funds we are using for the procurement of anti-retroviral drugs.
“Funds for capacity building, HIV awareness and testing are from donor agencies like the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria as well as the U.S. Centre for Disease Control,’’ he said
Kigbu said that the development aptly signified that Nigeria, like many other African countries, had failed to give priority importance to public health issues.
“We need to scale up our efforts; resource mobilisation is very important because if our donor partners, for any reason, have a natural disaster or economic shutdown; then, we don’t get those funds and the local supply chain of anti-retroviral drugs will be interrupted,’’ he said.
Besides, Kigbu expressed concern over the burden of HIV and AIDS in the country, saying that about 7, 000 new infections came from paediatric HIV/AIDS.
He also lamented that Nigeria was behind target in several important indicators, as not less than one million HIV-positive persons were not on anti-retroviral drugs.
He said that ideally, not less than 1.5 million citizens were supposed to be receiving medication, adding, however, that only 500, 000 HIV-positive people were currently on anti-retroviral drugs.
Kigbu said that the alarming number of those who were not on anti-retroviral drugs necessitated urgent government attention and intervention in order to control the spread of the disease.
He called on the Federal Government to scale up funding for the HIV and AIDS programme to enable increased procurement of drugs, while intensifying efforts to achieve zero new infections.
“What this means is that not less than one million Nigerians, who are HIV sero-positive, are just walking around the street, having sex and transmitting the virus; so, we must wake up and tackle the development,’’ he said.
He called on the government to increase its commitment to public health issues, expressing hope that President Goodluck Jonathan would address the public health issues more critically.
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