Nigeri’a leading construction company, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, recently joined other private sector stakeholders to launch the N62.1 billion (US$150 Million) HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria (HTFN).
A press statement by the construction company’s media and publicity unit, Wednesday, indicated that Julius Berger, which is one of the Trust Fund’s five Funding Trustee member organisations, was donating N56 million as part of the funds needed to set the trust in motion.
The HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria (HTFN) is a private sector-led initiative of both the public and the private sectors.
It is aimed at ensuring sustainable mobilisation of funds towards the eradication of AIDS in Nigeria, starting with the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The Fund, which was officially launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja recently, has been described by global health leaders, as an important milestone in driving the next stage of the fight against HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
“Themed “No child in Nigeria should be born with HIV; no child in Nigeria should be an orphan because of HIV; no child in Nigeria should die due to lack of access to treatment,” the Executive Director UNAIDS, Ms. Winnie Byanyima, in her keynote address, described the initiative as laudable, because, according to her, “2 out of every 3 women in Nigeria currently do not receive any HIV test during pregnancy which poses serious risks of infection to their babies,” the statement read in part.
According to the statement, Julius Berger which was represented at the event by its Managing Director, Engr. Dr. Lars Richter, has consistently supported the fight against HIV/AIDS in Nigeria as one of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project.
“In June 2019 it donated a fully functional office and operational base in Abuja to the Nigerian Business Coalition against HIV-AIDS (NIBUCAA) initiative,” the statement added.
