Tag: AHF Nigeria

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria, on Monday, marked this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) with various women and girls groups  in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, eliciting a call for  all stakeholders to give maximum respect and value to women and girls to accelerate a healthy living.

AHF equally advocated for action to empower women and girls, in a bid  to celebrate their achievements while promoting action to break down barriers to their health, equality, and opportunity.

The Senior Regional Medical Manager in charge of Benue State, Dr. John Ugboji stated this at a forum put together by the foundation as part of activities to mark the 2025 International Women’s Day (IWD), held at AHF-Nigeria Makurdi office.

Dr. Ugboji insisted that AHF placed enormous value on women and girls in the society, which is why most of the organisation’s programme is anchored around women, girls and children in order to better their lives. 

He noted that the value of women and girls cannot be over emphasized, insisting that the foundation would continue to prioritize issues of women and girls so as to give them sense of belonging.

Also speaking, Advocacy and Marketing Manager, AHF Nigeria, Steve Aborisade, stressed the need for leaders at all levels to turn commitments into action to accelerate development.

He maintained that a just and equitable world would only be possible when women and girls could claim their full rights, power, and potentials.

“AHF Nigeria joins the global movement to demand an end to the inequities that hold women and girls back.We must support women and girls in our society to accelerate action by giving free education to girl child, empower them through  positive venture. This is the only way to reduce HIV and eradicate the scourge amongst them.

The representative of the State Ministry of Health, Dr. Obatomi Joy, lamented that over the years women are being neglected, which made them to look down on themselves.

She stated that there is need for a change of attitude amongst women and other members of the society in order to accelerate action. 

Dr. Obatomi assured that the State Ministry of Health would continue to strive to ensure that all women and girls have equal access to health care in the State. 

“We must give women the respect they deserve in the society in order to accelerate progress. Women must stop stigmatizing themselves in order to achieve success”.

She stated that State government would continue to partner with relevant organisations such as AHF to promote healthy living.

On her part, the Director of Women Affairs, State  Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Magdalene Andor, commended AHF for what they are  doing in the State’s health sector especially their strategic approach to menstrual issue amongst women.

She explained that many women are being faced with menstrual poverty, Gender Based Violence and Stigmatisation and commended AHF for their efforts in tackling them.

She  added that in order to  accelerate action and tackle the issue of Gender based violence against women, the State government has established a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) where where survivors of such act can be treated.

Mrs. Andor enjoined women to stop looking down on themselves, saying that most men rely on them for ideas that make them take actions and stand out among their peers.

She encourage people to always be ready to report any case of gender based violence against them to the appropriate authorities for necessary action.

Speaking on the theme of this year’s celebration, “Accelerate Action”, State Nursing Coordinator at AHF, Ruth Atabo, said the theme is a worldwide call to acknowledge strategies, resources, and activity that positively impact women’s advancement, and to support and elevate their implementation.

She said AHF celebrate and appreciate the work women do, especially mentor mothers, to impact the society saying that their focused intervention has positively enhanced their advancement and implementation of innovative strategies to prevent the transmission of HIV, reduced stigma and discrimination, improved the quality of life of people living with HIV and eliminate mother to child transmission.

To commemorate the International Day of the African Child 2024, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Africa Bureau will host a series of events under the theme “Fostering Health and Education Through Comprehensive Sexuality Education” as part of its ongoing “#ProtectTheChild” campaign. 

This theme aligns with the global 2024 IDAC theme, “Education for All, and the Time is Now,” to underscore the crucial role that access to education, including Comprehensive Sexuality Education, plays in enhancing health outcomes for young people.

The emphasis on age-appropriate Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) stems from the increasing rates of new HIV infections and teenage pregnancies, highlighting the urgent need to equip young people with proven tools, services, and information. 

Research has demonstrated that age-appropriate CSE can significantly reduce the incidence of HIV, STIs, gender-based violence, and unplanned pregnancies among adolescents and young people.

The International Day of the African Child observed annually on June 16th, honors those who participated in the 1976 Soweto uprising and has since become a symbol of raising awareness about the rights of African children. 

Since 2022, AHF Africa has strategically leveraged this day to highlight the importance of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for the health and well-being of young people, in furtherance of their right to health and education.

AHF Africa will host various live and virtual activities across its country programs to engage key stakeholders, community leaders, parents, teachers, and young people on the importance of investing in CSE and galvanize community support for its implementation in schools and communities.  

This year, AHF Nigeria will be hosting a consultative meeting, in the form of a Focus Group Discussion (FGD), with students and other young people, and that will have officials of government agencies and parastatals in attendance, to give young people an opportunity to contribute their ideas about how CSE can foster health and education towards achieving life goals. The event will take place on the 20th of June, at the Jades hotel, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, by 10:AM prompt.

“AHF’s commitment to fostering CSE stems from the outcome of extensive global research, which highlights its many benefits – including reduction in early sexual engagement, fostering positive attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health issues, reducing the tendency to engage in risky behaviors, strengthening of self-awareness, and equipping young individuals with knowledge to combat HIV, STIs, and unplanned pregnancies, while challenging harmful gender norms,” said Dr. Echey Ijezie, AHF Nigeria Country Program Director. 

Dr Ijezie also noted that the #ProtectTheChild campaign was aimed at addressing the pushback and misinformation surrounding Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), which has continued to hinder effective implementation while the planned event is an avenue to further foster meaningful dialogue and build support for age-appropriate CSE.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Nigeria, has stressed the need to set up ‘pad banks’ in schools and communities that would assist teenage girls in the event of menstrual emergencies.

The organization disclosed this while commemorating the 2024 Menstrual Health Day (MHD), held at Angwan-Jukun, Wurukum, Makurdi Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue state on Tuesday.

Speaking to newsmen at the occasion, Steve Aborisade, the Advocacy and Marketing Manager, AHF Nigeria noted that the call became necessary because majority of teenage girls face what he termed period poverty – lacking access and means to menstrual products which compels young women and girls to seek alternatives that are detrimental to their health and wellbeing.

He pointed out that the result is that most of the girls have to use other means to contain their menstrual flow, including the use of rags, cotton wool and in some cases tissue paper which are harmful to their health. 

The Advocacy and Marketing Manager further stated that the inability of the teenagers to access sanitary pad has led to the call on all to end ‘period poverty’. 

Aborisade, further informed that AHF was appealing to other partners, to contribute to the bank, adding that no matter how small their contributions were, it would go a long way to assist the girls. He said, “We came to this community, using certain criteria. We learnt that there is high prevalence rate of teenage pregnancy, sexual assault, teenage prostitution and so many more.

“Therefore, we felt that it is important to give the young people in this community some form of education. That was what led to the formation of the Community Committee on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in this community, with other partners in Benue. 

“This is like a follow-up to that effort; you know we work with some young people and youth peer leaders, and we train them in CSE, because one of the key challenges young girls have now is access to sanitary pads; menstruation is a big deal. They have very little knowledge and awareness about it; on what to do and what not to do. And majority of them cannot even afford sanitary pads.

“And we have heard from speaker after speaker reinforcing the reality of our girls.” Giving further insight into the pad bank, Aborisade said, “The idea of a pad bank is to be able to create a repository of sanitary pads, for instance, in this community. So that some girls who cannot read their circle and as they are on their way to school, in school, or maybe in church or they are going out and discover that they are already wet (start menstruating) and sometime young boys are making jest of them; in such a situation the girl can quickly run to the house of the community head, for get an emergency supply to deal with the situation. 

“And we are working with other partners that are here today, to contribute to that bank; if you contribute 10 rolls of the pads, it will go a long way”, he stated.

Aborisade also stated that AHF would further take its advocacy to the Benue state House of Assembly. 

The Chairman, Benue state House of Assembly Committee on SDGs and NGOs, (BNHA), Hon. Peter Uche, said his committee is ready to partner with AHF and called on AHF to subsequently involve parents in such programmes, adding that parents should handle their children with tact. He encouraged parents to listen to their children and understand where they were coming from, rather than condemning them.

Also speaking at the event, which also served as a forum for creating awareness and education for the over 100 teenagers, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Helen Nyikaav, advised the girls to educate their peers on the harmful effects of using other means, other than sanitary pads to contain their menstruation. She said they should count themselves privileged to be exposed to such teachings at an early stage, because some of them were not privileged to this kind of information while growing up.

Mrs. Matina Adiyia, Head, Menstrual Health Desk Officer, Benue State Action Committee on AIDS (BENSACA), said the core mandate of the agency is HIV and AIDS, but the provision of sanitary pads is crucial as it intersects with HIV transmission. She explained that she would take the matter back to the Executive Secretary of the agency, to see how they would key into the project.

Miss. Catherine Sunday, a participant from the Agwan-Jukun community echoes the plights of other participants as she pleaded with government to come to the aid of young women and girls by providing free sanitary materials to them and to ensure that they have a conducive environment through the provisions of toilets and running water in schools and in the community so that girls can menstruate with dignity.

In commemoration of this year’s International Condom Day, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has emphasised on the need for condom education which will help expand access to accurate information that support safer s3xual practices. 

Observed annually on February 13, International Condom Day gives people around the world a chance to receive free condoms and essential information about proper condom use and other sexual health issues. 

A statement by the foundation disclosed that on February 13, a day preceding Valentine’s Day, a road walk starting from the AHF Nigeria Benue Program Office at 10, Jona Jang Crescent, Makurdi, to terminate at the Tito gate area of the city will be held. 

It said: “During the walk, there would be public education on condom to harp on the need for correct and consistent use of the commodity, while free condoms shall be distributed to the people.

“AHF is also strategically targeting the youth population with messages of abstinence, but for those who are unable to abstain, to use condom consistently and correctly. 

“The youth engagement is in collaboration with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), National AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and STIs Control Program (NASCP), the Lagos state AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) and the National Youth Network on HIV/AIDS Population and Development (NYNETHA).

“The youth engagement will be through Twitter Spaces and a dedicated podcast that is being produced with contents generated from young people in Abuja, Benue, Cross River and Nasarawa states.

In his remarks, AHF Nigeria Country Program Director, Dr. Echey Ijezie said: “The emphasis on reaching both the adult and youth population with condom education stems from the need to create and expand access to accurate information that support safer sexual practices in the population, which can halt the tide of new infections being recorded.’’ 

It said: “According to the World Health Organization, over 1 million people globally acquire an STI every day, and 117 million new HIV infections since 1990 have been averted thanks to condoms. This is why, on ICD and beyond, the world must remember—condoms are safe, sexy, and essential to ending HIV/AIDS.

“On ICD 2024, we urge everyone worldwide to remember that condoms save lives and remain the best option for preventing HIV, other sexually transmitted infections, and unplanned pregnancies.”