DG NACA assures of availability of HIV drugs in Nigeria

 Dr Temitope Ilori, Director General of National Agency for AIDS Control (NACA) 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.

She said that there was a serious commitment by the Federal Government through the ministry of Budget and National Planning to enhance budgetry provision for HIV/AIDS Control to ensure adequate availability of drugs and testing kits.

She gave assurance that the government would not fail in it's responsibility to reduce it's prevalence to the barest minimum as well as to sustain the fight to ensure that Nigeria was AIDS free.

The director general urged the committee to ensure that Taraba was HIV free in the nearest future, adding that mother to child transmission was another common source of spreading the pandemic.

She also said that the agency was working hard in collaboration with different partners to ensure the campaign and responds to the pandemic got to the nook and cranny in Nigeria.

She also sought for the collective efforts by all stakeholders in the industry to ensure the eradication of HIV AIDS in Nigeria.

She said 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 it's sustained response toward correcting the narratives as the highest state with HIV AIDS prevalence rate in the North East.

Earlier, Dr Bodiya Boma, Commissioner for Health in Taraba said that the state was working assiduously to reduce it's prevalence rate from 2.9 pee cent to a more insignificant rate.

Boma said that the present administration in the state had given it's second priority to health after security.

He gave assurance that funding of the PMCT by Gov Agbu Kefas of Taraba would lead to eradication of the pandemic come 2030.

In his remark, Pharm Timothy 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 funds HIV AIDS projects.

He challenged the committee members to ensure no child was born with HIV again in the state.