Raise HIV / AIDS Ambassadors | National News Nigeria

A pilot project by the National AIDS Control Agency (NACA) has trained and empowered more than 900 young and vulnerable Nigerians as a strategy to prevent HIV / AIDS infections at the community level, associate editors report. are doing Adekun Reyusuf

Many have resisted the usually heavy traffic jams of Lagos to decorate the event. Last Thursday, as soon as possible, the vast hall of Snag Banquet Hall in Yaba, Lagos was filled. The opportunity was a graduation ceremony organized by the National Advisory Committee for AIDS (NACA) for the beneficiaries of a pilot training and empowerment program in Lagos.

Through this project, NACA has trained and empowered more than 180 vulnerable poor people and people with different skills in Lagos. This is to help them become self-reliant and contribute to the state’s economic productivity, Dr. Gambo Arille of NACADG said at the graduation ceremony. Beneficiaries of the economic empowerment program included the vulnerable poor and those living with HIV. After two weeks of training, they were all presented with certificates, startup kits and equipment and promised to link to access to capital. The various skills learned included tiling, hairdressing, catering, and painting.

NACA bosses said empowerment helps reduce poverty, as poverty is one of the drivers of young people’s HIV / AIDS in the country. “We guarantee that young people are self-employed, self-employed and create jobs to reduce their vulnerability and risk of becoming infected with HIV, and to manage HIV / AIDS in Nigeria. Promoting the Last One Mile means investigating the causes of HIV / AIDS, addressing them, and ensuring that they are finished by 2030. “I will.”

Prior to the Lagos event, Adamawa’s capital, Yola, also hosted the NACA team, which last month empowered vulnerable Nigerians. In Adamawa, the NACA trained and empowered a total of 180 young Nigerians with a variety of entrepreneurial skills. At the colorful graduation ceremony, government officials presented beneficiaries with equipment, were hired competently, and empowered them to rescue them from vulnerable situations. Hack Kaduni, NACA’s Special Mission Director on behalf of Dr. Arille, revealed that the empowerment program is organized and funded by government agencies.

The agency said the empowerment program was designated as a pilot project in five states, including Lagos, Nassarawa, Kano, Adamawa and Enugu. In each of the five states, 180 young Nigerians were carefully selected to benefit from the empowerment program.

“The main purpose of the empowerment scheme is to empower young people through entrepreneurship training and to provide young people with the tools to start their own businesses for independence. The mission of this system is to be lazy for young people. The beneficiaries are not HIV / AIDS-infected people, but ordinary young people who are given the opportunity to participate in the program, ”says Aliyu. Says.

At the Lagos event, NACA President Senator Dipo Odujinrin urged all beneficiaries of programs in all five states to maximize opportunities by increasing their craft skills. .. “Don’t waste this effort and don’t sell the given work tools. We don’t want you to engage in any kind of evil. We tell you I want to give a sense of belonging, so you have to be a good ambassador for the country, “he emphasized.

Why the NACA must end HIV / AIDS by 2030

The NACA has reiterated its commitment to end HIV / AIDS by the end of 2030, in line with the global desire to remove the dreaded virus from the world by 2030. And other crafts. At the end of the two-week training, all participants were provided with work tools / tools and other materials (including cash).

At the event, the NACA DG revealed that more than 8.2 million people living with HIV / AIDS had already been tested last year, but authorities are interested in testing more than 8 million people to know their condition. Expected to show. “We are driving the last mile. Last year we tested 8.2 million people living with HIV / AIDS and want to address socio-economic and cultural imbalances. Working with the private sector And touring six geopolitical zones in the country. We have trained young people between the ages of 18 and 35 in a variety of skills. We have trained 900 people in the last two weeks. Wants to tackle poverty to discourage social vices, “he said.

The heart of the problem

HIV / AIDS, a disease of global interest, is expected to be eradicated worldwide by 2030. Nigeria has made great strides in the fight against the disease, but there is still much to do before the country sings. Victory song. In Nigeria, the national HIV / AIDS prevalence is currently 1.5%, and the National HIV / AIDS Index and Impact Survey, a national home-based survey assessing the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ( According to the report of NAIIS). ) And other relevant health indicators for 2018. Reiterating that Nigeria has made great strides towards achieving its 90-90-90 UNAIDS goal, Arille said the country is currently reporting 73-89-78. Collaborative efforts to creatively develop and implement interventions to accelerate this towards the finish line by ensuring that the incidence of HIV infection is reduced, especially among young people and key vulnerable people. He said it was necessary.

Authorities have identified poverty and gender inequality as the main drivers of the virus in Nigeria. Over the years, many studies, including a national gender assessment of HIV / AIDS responses in Nigeria, have identified an undeniable link between poverty, violence against women, sexual violence and HIV transmission. The recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of livelihoods, food insecurity and other factors (gender-based violence, other forms of discrimination, inequality) is an individual vulnerability to HIV, especially among women and girls. Improves sex. In addition, the newly developed National HIV / AIDS Community Care and Support Guidelines have identified economic empowerment as one of the key strategies to prevent the spread of the virus, especially among young people, major vulnerable populations. .. In particular, the guidelines recommend the implementation of interventions to ensure that individuals and groups are empowered in light of the additional financial burden they experience in the COVID-19 pandemic situation. This is important to achieve the global goal of ending AIDS by 2030.

Over the years, NACA has worked with partners, including UN Women, the ILO, UNAIDS, government and private sector agencies, to financially empower thousands of young people, vulnerable women, poor PLHIV and PABA in the north and north. It has facilitated various interventions to give. Southern Nigeria. These interventions have transferred livelihood skills and financial opportunities to beneficiaries. Aliyu says NACA’s mission and experience in promoting and coordinating comprehensive community care services, including interventions to reduce the vulnerability of individuals exposed to HIV, is a gap to quickly track the achievement of 90-90. He explained that it indicates the need to strengthen interventions to fill the gap. -90 targets in Nigeria.

Nigeria will need $ 2.4 billion to control the epidemic over the next three years

According to Dr. Aliyu, Nigeria will need to invest more than $ 2.4 billion to curb the HIV epidemic in the next few years. He made this disclosure last October. Nigeria has spent more than $ 6.2 billion on HIV control over the last decade, but NACA bosses regret that more than $ 5 billion, or 2.1 trillion N, comes from donors. I will.

“Over the last decade, more than $ 6.2 billion has been spent on HIV control in the country. Critically, more than $ 5 billion (2.1 trillion N) of this $ 6.2 billion comes from outside. This is funded by the US President’s AIDS Relief Emergency Program (PEPFAR) Program or the World Fund. We are pleased to receive this support now, but once we are in control of this epidemic, I’m unaware of the fact that support will no longer exist. The question is where can I continue this money?

“But by then, more than 90% of people with the disease need to be identified and dosed to control the epidemic and reach that level, $ 2.4 billion. That means we need to control this epidemic in the next few years and this is a necessary investment. “

According to NACA bosses, identifying more than 90% of people infected with HIV and applying them to life-saving drugs can significantly reduce or eliminate the transmission of the disease from person to person. “To keep delivering medicine to 1.5 million people, we need more than 75 billion N a year. Controlling it is one thing. Keeping control of it is another thing. To keep controlling it. You have to make the drug available to 1.5 million people who live with the virus. By the time we control this epidemic, our treatment list will include about 1.5 million people. Probably.

For HIV to be fully controlled and AIDS to end, 1.5 million people need to be treated for the rest of their lives. And this is where difficult things happen. This is not an easy task, as it takes more than 75 billion naira a year to continue to deliver the drug to 1.5 million people. Our goal is to do two things. Control the epidemic and place structures for sustainability. “