Nigeria gets $1.1billion for HIV intervention, says NACA

Nigeria has received over $1.1 billion for HIV intervention from Global Fund,  the Director-General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Gambo Aliyu, has said.

  Aliyu made this known in Abuja during the presentation of the publication entitled: “From the darkest of days to a new dawn,” by NACA, United Nations, Network of People Living With HIV and AIDS (NEPWHAN) and Federal Ministry of Health.

  He said the funds made the country the largest recipient of HIV funding, which would span last year to next year.

According to the NACA chief, the publication is based on the evolution of HIV in Nigeria over the past 35 years. “The quicker we begin to look at domestic financial sustainability, the better for Nigeria because we do not expect donor support to continue forever. Nigeria has the largest global fund portfolio in a single country with over $1.1 billion for last year to 2023 implementation. We have also had increased domestic HIV financing with 50,000 additional ART yearly using the government of Nigeria’s resources and the establishment of the HIV Trust Fund.

“The new dawn is a rich inventory of insights and great lessons to guide health workers, researchers and policy makers in addressing Nigeria’s unfinished business in HIV/AIDS. We must close the unmet HIV treatment needs among women, children and men,” Aliyu added.

The United States Ambassador, Mary Beth Leonard, said: “Today is such an incredibly important moment to reflect on how far we have come in the past 35 years. We remember in the 1980s when we never thought that there would be a world in which you will be free from HIV; in which it would be a manageable disease. Through the efforts of so many people – partners like the United States, Global Fund, Nigerian government agencies, activists, civil society – we all worked together and came up with systems, data and outreach  that has brought Nigeria now credibly within months of epidemic control. It is an incredible achievement. It is a proud moment for the United States as a major partner and beneficiary of some $6 billion since 2003, to reflect on what it is that people of good will and resources and good plans can accomplish together.”

By Moses Emorinken

https://thenationonlineng.net/nigeria-gets-1-1billion-for-hiv-intervention-says-naca/