Okowa Releases N100m To Fight HIV Epidemic


By Tony Okechukwu


Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, on Thursday, launched a new round of An­ti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Surges as the state with 23,290 people living with the disease was listed among South-South states like Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Edo and Cross-River with high of HIV epidemic prevalence.

ART under the U.S. Pres­ident’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was launched with N100 million to bring HIV epidemic under control.

At the launch of the state’s ART Surge Response in Asa­ba, the Governor told the U.S Deputy Chief of Mission, Kathleen Fitzgibbon that a law would be enacted in the state to fight the scourge.

The Governor who was dis­pleased said the equity plan of the state government through the Contributory Health Insur­ance Scheme and Free Mater­nal Healthcare Services were geared at reducing incident cases in infants and adults.

He said, “I am taking up the fight against HIV/AIDS as one of the key cardinal objectives of my administra­tion. An executive bill will be sponsored to the state’s House of Assembly to domesticate the fight. We will scale up on the 53 treatment centres in the state and sanction anyone who abuses the user-free treatment of the disease.”

While the Governor do­nated N100 million to begin the fight, Fitzgibbon said HIV have no protocols or respect for any man and expressed concern over Us­er-Fees Charge by healthcare facilities for HIV patients, saying the U.S agencies for the control have provided useful scientific data, drugs and information to end the stigmatization and make the next generation free of the scourge by bringing the epi­demic under control through vital suppression, healthcare providers should stop sen­tencing patients to early death through extortion.

Having identified gaps in the treatment as a major flaw of the spread of the epidemic, Okowa promised to add to the existing 53 health care centres across the state.

He called those with the vi­rus to accept treatment, say­ing by that they have reduced the spread of the virus despite social stigmatization.

Okowa assured Deltans of his commitment to fighting the epidemic, saying that, hence, taking up the fight against HIV would one of the major priorities of his admin­istration.

He threatened that the state would treat unfairly, those who request money to administer treatment on HIV patient and promised to engage the State House of As­sembly to adopt the Anti-Stig­ma/ Discrimination Law in the State.

In her address, US Deputy Chief of Mission, Kathleen Fitzgibbon revealed that over 5 billion US dollars have been spent in Nigeria by the US government to support the fight against HIV.

Having identified gaps in the treatment as a major flaw of the spread of the epidemic, Okowa promised to add to the existing 53 health care centres across the state.

He called those with the vi­rus to accept treatment, say­ing by that they have reduced the spread of the virus despite social stigmatization.

Okowa assured Deltans of his commitment to fighting the epidemic, saying that, hence, taking up the fight against HIV would one of the major priorities of his admin­istration.

He threatened that the state would treat unfairly, those who request money to administer treatment on HIV patient and promised to engage the State House of As­sembly to adopt the Anti-Stig­ma/ Discrimination Law in the State.

In her address, US Deputy Chief of Mission, Kathleen Fitzgibbon revealed that over 5 billion US dollars have been spent in Nigeria by the US government to support the fight against HIV.

According to her, “The programme is the largest foreign assisted programme against any disease. In Nige­ria saying “We have invested over 5 billion US dollars in the past 15 years”.

She urged stakeholders to see the fight against the ep­idemy as a challenge rather than a problem.

With a set target of Sep­tember 2020 to reduce the 1.9 per cent HIV body in the state, Kathleen urged stakeholders to collaborate effectively to achieve desired results.

Earlier, the Execu­tive Director, Delta State Agency for the Control of AIDS (DELSACA), Dr John Osuyali reiterated the need for stakeholders to battle HIV in the state having been identified amongst eight states with high HIV bodies in the country.

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