By Hassan Zaggi
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has called on all stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS to come together and form a formidable force in order to accelerate prevention of new HIV infection, especially, among the vulnerable population and youth.
He made the call while declaring open a three-day ‘2024 HIV prevention conference’ in Abuja, yesterday.
Represented by the Director and Senior Technical Assistant to the Minister of State for Health, Dr David Atuwo, the Minister said that theme of the conference lays credence to the collective determination as a government to ensure that Nigerians are healthy and wealthy.
The conference, according to him, “provides a platform for discussing our different prevention strategies with intent of accessing for effectiveness, sharing global prevention practices and domesticating them to suit our socio-cultural environment.”
The Minister, therefore, applauded donors for their interventions and supports in ensuring that Nigeria achieves the 95-95-95 target by 2030 as well as sustainable development goals.
He insisted that: “We can only win this war against this virus when we work together to accelerate HIV prevention amongst everyone and put those infected by HIV on treatment across the country.”
Earlier in her address of welcome, the Director General of NACA, Dr Temitope Ilori, disclosed that since the last conference which took place in 2016, appreciable progress has been made which, according to her, has helped in shaping the response and strategies to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country. the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our country.
“In the time between the last conference and now, we have implemented various strategies such as combination prevention therapy, HIV self-testing, harm reduction initiatives, treatment as prevention, and the re-evaluation of Nigeria’s HIV epidemic through the NAIIS in 2018, among others.”
While advocating for a redoubled effort in the fight against HIV, the DG NACA cautioned that “despite our achievements, our work is far from over. We must redouble our efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission and strive for an AIDS-free generation by 2030, leveraging the advancements in health technology at our disposal.
“Prevention lies at the core of our public health interventions. Therefore, this conference serves as a platform to explore innovative approaches to empower communities, particularly those at higher risk, with the knowledge and tools to protect themselves from HIV infection.
“Stigma and discrimination remain significant barriers to achieving our goals by 2030. We must educate and sensitize people about the harmful effects of stigma and discrimination against individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
“Our strategies must be inclusive, person-centred, and sensitive to the needs of adolescents, young people, key populations, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
“We must also focus on community-based interventions while promoting local ownership and sustainability of our response efforts.”
She, therefore, commended all partners whose support, she said, has made the conference possible, stressing that: “It is a testament to the power of collaboration and shared commitment towards a common goal.
“Special thanks to the PEPFAR team for their support in providing this venue and facilitating the youth conference and to UNAIDS for their generous seed grant.”
