Source: thenationonlineng.net
All roads leading to Obanta Avenue off Ajao Road were in upbeat mood, with an upsurge in human and vehicular traffic literally putting business and other activities on hold on the street and its adjoining areas for hours.
As early as 7.am, market women in resplendent attires, leaders of civil society organisations (NGOs) working towards HIV eradication, top government functionaries from federal and six states in the Southwest geo-political zone and virtually the country’s entire HIV community had converged on 8b Obanta Avenue. The mission: the inauguration of the zonal office of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), sited in Lagos.
An elated Director-General of NACA, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, said having NACA zonal office in Lagos means that “we have brought the entire might and weight of the Federal Government in HIV control and management activities to Lagos. It is easy to give money.
In my position, it is much easier for me to give money than to give time. In Mr. Governor’s position, it is much easier to give money than to give time.
We appreciate your gesture to disseminate the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAISS) result in Lagos State. Let me assure that what you have disseminated is a part of the story.
The complete package of the story is coming; and it will come very soon. We have disseminated the NAISS result at the local government level.
“Next year, we will share the Lagos state current status in terms of HIV prevalence. And I can assure you that it is a promising result and it is something to be happy about.
And it is not by chance. It is not by coincidence. It is as a result of the resources you have committed into the war against HIV. It is the commitment.
It is the political will and the willingness and, above all, it is your physical presence in all HIV activities in pushing towards reaching the last mile,” Aliyu said.
While providing the rationale behind having zonal offices in the six geo-political zones in the country, Dr. Aliyu said the Act that gave birth to the agency also empowers it to operate in places outside its principal office in Abuja, as long as this will enhance proper discharge or performance of its functions.
Besides this, the DG explained that operational exigencies have also made it expedient for NACA to establish regional hubs to track and monitor HIV prevention, treatment and control programmes across the country.
Following a major restructuring taking place in the agency and the advent of the Nigeria AIDS (NAISS), NACA requires a decentralised monitoring structure to be more functional and effective in carrying out its mandate, since zonal offices will bring the agency’s activities closer to the communities.
Apart from Lagos, zonal offices are being established in Gombe for the North-west; Kano for the North-east; Lafia for the North-central; Umuahia for the South-east and Uyo for the South-south.
“The decision to have zonal office is a good development that will foster greater collaboration and reposition the state. It will also contribute to the national push for the last mile towards ending the HIV pandemic by 2030. The office will oversee the coordination of NCA’s activities in the South-west zone.
It is expected that the zonal officials would provide effective oversight of the agency’s activities in the cluster states within the zones and report accordingly to the head office in Abuja,” Dr. Aliyu said.
Noting that Nigeria has done remarkably well in stemming the tide of HIV in the last 15 years, resulting in the reduction of the prevalence of the disease, Dr. Aliyu stated that NACA’s focus is to ensure that HIV is 90 per cent under control in the country in the shorted possible time.
He disclosed that HIV is 60 per cent under control in Nigeria, adding that his agency is ready to collaborate with all stakeholders to take it to 90 per cent in the next few years so that by the time we arrive at the last mile in in 2030, HIV will be under total check.
While reminding the Lagos State government that it is holding fort for other states in the South-west, acting board of NACA, Senator Oladipo Odujinrin, said the country needs to focus its HIV awareness and prevention activities more on adolescents because they are the future of the country.
He stated that sensitisation campaigns condemning bad habits and dangerous sexual behaviours should be intensified so that HIV prevalence rate can be truly curbed, adding that everybody needs to come on board in achieving this objective.
In her goodwill message, Dr. Monsurat Adeleke, Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), said her agency is the pioneer state AIDS control board in the country. She promised that LSACA will continue to collaoborate with NACA in the fight against HIV control.
Responding, Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, expressed his appreciation for recognising the state’s efforts in stemming the tide against HIV/AIDS, saying it is a responsibility the state cannot afford to shirk.
He welcomed NACA’s decision to site its zonal office in Lagos, saying it will bring closer the services of NACA to the people, particularly stakeholders and partners.
The zonal office will enhance NACA’s monitoring and coordination functions in the drive to reduce the prevalence of HIV, he added. “The decision to locate the South-west office of NACA in Lagos, I believe, is in recognition of the commitment and dedication of our government in eradicating the virus through the activities of the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA). More importantly, this decision is consistent with the recent classification of Lagos State as one of the locations of interest in the fight against the menace of HIV/AIDS,” the Governor said.
Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by Prof Akin Abayomi, Commissioner for Health, said the zonal office will further expand the frontier of the agency in the achievement of its mandates as well as provide functional knowledge of the disease to the people living with the virus and how to obtain support and care from the agency.
The governor promised that his administration is willing and ready to further deepen partnership with NACA to achieve the collective goal of eradicating the HIV pandemic through various actions in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the project 90:90:90.
He noted that an HIV Consortium Group was recently inaugurated in Lagos as a demonstration of the state government’s commitment and to bring on board all stakeholders towards achieving meaningful result.
He said the zonal office will be a rallying point for all stakeholders within the South-west zone to key into the national goal being driven by NACA.
He also called for stronger collaboration among all stakeholders to eradicate the HIV pandemic in Nigeria so that the country can end the unenviable record of having the second largest HIV prevalence in the world. Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by Prof Akin Abayomi, Commissioner for Health, stressed that there is an urgent need for stakeholders to review strategies and deepen partnerships in the area of advocacy and expanding access to care, treatment and support for those living with the epidemic. “Let us move forward in a bold new spirit of partnership to overcome the cycle of HIV transmission and deliver health and wellbeing for all.
The progress made so far in ending this epidemic would not have been possible without dynamic advocacy, solidarity and a spirit of shared responsibility, which must be maintained,” Sanwo-Olu said.
He explained that the recently released report of the national and sub -national incidence rates, which indicated a reduction in prevalence of the disease, is a testament to the effort of all stakeholders.
Sounding a note of warning, Sanwo-Olu also stressed that is not yet time for celebration, noting that a lot of work still needs to be done to ensure further significant reduction as Nigeria still has an unenviable record of having the second largest HIV epidemic in the world and one of the highest rates of new infection in sub-Saharan Africa.