Federal Ministry of Health on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to contributing to the Global Fund for the Management of HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The National Coordinator, National AIDS, STI’s, Hepatitis Control Programme (NASCP), FMoH, Dr Araoye Segilola, said this at a news conference in Abuja.
Segilola said Nigeria as a nation had never abandoned its responsibility or commitment to citizens, neither had it failed from its responsibility among comity of nations.
He added that at the Global Fund’s 5th Replenishment conference which held in Canada in 2016 spanning three years (2016-2019), Nigeria made its commitment and fulfilled its pledge to the fund.
According to him, the Global Fund’s 6th Replenishment conference scheduled for Lyon, France, Nigeria will also be represented, adding: “we will make commitment as other nations and we will redeem our pledge.”
The coordinator explained that over the years, Nigeria had benefited from the Global Fund support in the area of HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
He added that “currently, Nigeria has a HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 1.4 per cent, equivalent to 1.9 million Nigerians living with the virus.”
The Executive Secretary, Civil Society for HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (CISHAN), Dr Walter Ugwuocha, said the conference was important to the national response on HIV and AIDS as a country.
Ugwuocha said it was important that all countries increased their donations significantly to the Global Fund, noting that the pool over the years had helped to place over 32 million people on treatment globally.
He added that such funds had also help to fight early infant diagnosis and diseases, as well as optimised the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTC) programme in a number of countries.
