By Justina Auta
The Federal and State Governments have reiterated their commitment to HIV sustainability agenda and response programmes to effectively end the epidemic in the country.
They made the commitment at the national-state engagement meeting on Monday night in Abuja.
Dr Temitope Ilori, the Director-General of National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), stressed the need to deconstruct and redefine what the HIV programme sustainability meant.
Ilori said :”Let me begin by emphasising that there is no way we can solve the HIV problem at the national level in the states, the local government and our individual wards.
“Nigeria cannot solve the HIV epidemic alone at the national level.
“We all have our roles and responsibilities in this sustainability plan, our sub-national stakeholders are critical to this plan and the epidemic is far from over.
“We must do things differently, hence, the New Business Model of doing things if we must move forward,” she said.
She noted that over the last two decades, the HIV response in Nigeria had been largely donor dependent, which had made government mandated structures less visible and disengaged from the programme.
“There is a need to do things differently. To sustain the response, we must ensure that government at all levels are fully engaged in the response for our people.
“For instance, there is absolutely no reason why any child should be born HIV positive under our watch.
“We have the technology and the resources; all we need is the share will to end vertical transmission between mothers and their children. I look up to you all to ensure this happens,”she said.
Also speaking, Mr Leo Zekeng, the UNAIDS Country Director noted the remarkable progress had been made regarding HIV response in the country and globally.
Zekeng, however, stressed the need for country ownership to HIV response.
“We have made remarkable progress in the AIDS response, globally, regionally, and in the country.
“We are seeing more people on treatment. As a result, AIDS-related death has declined. We are seeing new infections on the decline.
“We are also seeing government’s institution and structure being in place, strategic document also in place.
“But you will agree with me that the way the response has been implemented so far, so relying primarily on external resources, the AIDS response being implemented as a vertical programme is not sustainable.
“So the challenge we have at hand now as we get closer to ending AIDS is how do we transfer some of those responsibilities to the NGOs, to the states in such a way that partners can play a different role.
“When we talk about sustainability, it doesn’t mean that development partners are packing, and they’re leaving.
“We are here, but playing a different role, but gradually our LGAs, our states, and communities need to take a greater role in such a way that our programmes are sustained, and implemented with maximum increased domestic resources,” he said.
Dr Alabi Babajide, Executive Secretary of Kwara State AIDS Control Agency and the Secretary of Chief Executives of State AIDS Control Agency Forum, emphasised the need for developing HIV sustainability plan.
“The most important thing that we are here to do is to align our thoughts, bring in stakeholders, the experts, all of us to come together and develop a roadmap that will speak to what the national is supposed to be.
“And when the document is developed, it will be further adapted at the sub-national level to key into the peculiarities of each sub-national space as far as HIV response is concerned.
“It’s also an opportunity for us during the review of implementation of our sustainability plan, look at areas that we did not even think about in the first place.
“Also to look at future challenges that might be emanating from this new national document development, and merge it to what we already have at the sub-national level.
“We need to ensure that we fight HIV to finish and achieve our targets by the year 2030,” he said. (NAN)
