The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Global Fund

  • Global Fund supports brave commitments to ending tuberculosis

    The Global Fund is joining leaders who converge on New York to commit to speeding up global collaboration in the fight against TB, a preventable disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2017.

    Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is addressing the first-ever UN High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis.

    Leaders are expected to sign a Declaration that will commit them to bigger efforts and investments needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending the TB epidemic by 2030.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the meeting an “unprecedented step forward” by governments and partners in the fight against TB.

    “The time has come for the world to reject the notion that a disease that is preventable and curable can continue to kill so many,” said Sands. “I call upon every country to muster the political will and invest the resources needed to meet the targets in the Declaration. We will need more international funding, but we will also need greater domestic resources.”

    Since 2002, the Global Fund has invested more than US$6.2 billion in the fight against TB and now represents about 65 percent of the international response to TB. But to meet the targets in the Declaration, the world will need to invest more in programs that are working, and find new and better drugs and tools to fight TB.

    Today’s meeting is expected to commit to closing the funding gap for the treatment and research of TB, estimated at $3.5 billion this year – an amount that may double by 2022. To reach millions of people who miss treatment every year, the leaders will also commit to finding and treating 40 million people with tuberculosis from 2018 to 2022.

    “We need a step change in our approach to fighting TB,” said Sands. “The Declaration is the result of a generation of activists who are standing up to fight TB, global leaders committing funding and political will, and a new energy amongst the private sector and researchers to find innovative new solutions to end TB. We have a moral imperative to hold them accountable for making this happen, tracking progress against targets across every country.”

    The leaders will commit to developing community-based health services to address human rights-related barriers to health and other challenges that block people from accessing the prevention, care and treatment they need to beat TB.

    “Most of those that are ‘missed’ are the ones that are most vulnerable,” said Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership, who was a driving force in the TB community to make today’s meeting a reality. “To succeed, TB services must be based on dialogue with people with TB. We have to look at the person living with TB as a full person, as a peer – with needs, with a family.”

  • Group praises Ogun residents for malaria eradication

    A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Global Fund, in collaboration with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), has praised Ogun State residents who trooped out in large number to collect Long Lasting Insticide-Treated Nets (LLITN) cards, aimed at eliminating the malaria across the state .

    One of the CRS Project Officers, Mrs. Orezi Nicholas Adhekoyibo said during the assessment tour of Mowe, Ibafo, and Mokolokin in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, that malaria is a major health challenge that hinders development, especially in Africa, where over a million lives, including expectant mothers and children under five,  are affected.

    She said to curb the spread of the disease, the Federal Government and some international organisations, including Global Fund and CRS, stepped up advocacies to ensure people were adequately sensitised on preventive measure and how to get treated if affected.

    She said  the disease remains one of the biggest challenges, which cause 11 per cent of maternal mortality in the country, adding that the Federal Government and key stakeholders were making efforts to ensure that the rate at which the disease spread is reduced maximally, if not eliminated.

    One of the mobilisers, a health worker, Mrs. Onye Victoria said the level of compliance by the people  was highly impressive, adding that the residents were ready to collect the cards.

    “Gone are the days when people said they didn’t get anything from the government except money. As you can see, people are willing to get the cards; even if they were not around and get to know that one mobiliser is in their area, they will quickly come back and request for their own card,” she said.

    Two beneficiaries of the LLIN cards, Mr. Adelaja Kolawole and Mrs. Olaonipekun Mojisola, praised the  government and its partners for the initiative, pledging their readiness to make wise use of the treated mosquito nets.

    Earlier, the Malaria Focal Persons of the areas, Mrs. Grace Oluwayemisi Olowu and Mrs. Kolashi Deborah Iyabo hailed the initiative of the government and its partners, especially for the strides recorded so far.

    They added that one of the major measures through which the spread of deadly disease (malaria) could be curbed was the use of LLIN, advising the people not to keep it up somewhere, but ensuring that they sleep under it as well.

    They urged the CRS to find lasting solutions to the people of remote areas, noting that some of the mobilisers were unwilling to visit those areas because of their high fare, and those being persuaded to the catchment areas spent not less than N5,000.

    Some residents lauded the government and Global Fund for the distribution of the nets across the three Senatorial Districts of the state.

    The exercise, which took place simultaneously at three Senatorial districts of the state, Ogun East, Ogun West and Ogun Central, witnessed a large turnout of residents, who expressed their delight for the programme.

    They noted that the gesture would save them time and money in buying the nets as it comes at an appropriate time – during the rainy season.

    Mr. Dada Israel, a resident of Liberty Junction, Oru-Ijebu and Mrs. Adelani Akintunde of Sango, commended Global Fund and CRS for the initiative, noting that the proper use of the nets would help them avoid mosquito bites and avert spread of malaria.

    According to the residents, “malaria was caused by a bite from an infected female mosquito (anmovelis), which carries a germs that cause the disease, noting that it’s preventable, if someone can sleep under the LLIMN wanted to distribute to the residents of the state.”

    They hailed the gesture of the government and the donor for bringing the exercise to their door steps instead of purchasing the net, pledging their support for the both government and Global Fund agents through out their work.

    A  Technical Consultant on the project, Mrs. Wasila Kolo  commended the residents for co-operating with the household mobilisers, noting that this showed that the programme was well accepted.

    Mrs Kolo assured that the strategy employed this year, which involved the use an android device for mobilisation and distribution of the free long lasting nets, would ensure the right household gets the right quantity of nets, thereby promoting accountability.

    She advised the residents to keep their cards as it would help them in collecting their nets during the period of distribution, promising that no household would be left untouched during the exercise.

    Areas visited include Oke-Ilewo, Olomore, Abule Olomore, Ita-Oshin, Adeun, Rounder in Abeokuta axis while Yewa Axis were Sango, Ota, Ilogbo, Owode, Oju-ore, Iju, Atan and Ago-Iwoye, Orun, Ijebu-Igbo, Ijebu-Ode, Awa-Oru Ijebu in Ijebu axis.

    The mobilisation would hold for nine days.

     

  • Lagos gets N3.8billion to tackle HIV

    Lagos gets N3.8billion to tackle HIV

    Lagos State Government Tuesday disclosed that it has received the sum of N3.8 billion ($9.6million) from Global fund to help tackle HIV/AIDS in the state.

    State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade, who disclosed this while briefing   journalists in Alausa , said the fund will be used for the implementation of comprehensive HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support program across 70 health facilities in the 3 LGAs of Epe, Ikorodu and OshodI Isolo.

    Ashade said about 10,337 numbers of People living with HIV adding that a total of 3,876 of these affected persons are children.

    He said the state Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, visited Global Fund in New York sometimes in June 2016, to reassure them of his commitment to the judicious use of the grant meant to reduce new HIV infections, and improve the quality of life for the infected, affected persons.

    The commissioner added the received grant would assist 289,344 persons known their HIV status, 17,049 People Living with HIV (PLHIV) to be placed on treatment, 54,140 pregnant women will be tested for HIV and 2,131 HIV positive pregnant women will receive treatment for the prevention of mother to child transmission.

    According to him, “achieving these targets will not only contribute to the improvement in their quality of life but also reduce the HIV prevalence.

    He said the government has projected N50billion monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for year 2018 and a budget size of N1trillion.

    He said the government is able to manage the economy of the state through prudent and stringent management of available resources so as to realise the N30bn monthly IGR projected for 2017.

    The commissioner explained that the state Bureau Of Statistics place the population of the state at 23 million adding that currently only 5 million of the population are paying tax in the state.

    He said it is expected that by next year additional 5 million people would have been drag into the tax net so as to realise the objective.

  • Ecobank, Global Fund, fight Malaria with $3m

    Ecobank, Global Fund, fight Malaria with $3m

    Ecobank and the Global Fund are in financing partnership programme to enable the fight against malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS. The programme is designed to strengthen the financial management skills of the scheme implementers in Nigeria, South Sudan and Senegal.

    Ecobank has pledged $3 million towards the scheme.

    During the second phase of the programme, which officially kicked off in Abuja yesterday, six non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which battle TB and HIV/AIDS in Nigeria will receive extensive onsite training over the next 12 weeks.

    Head of HR, and CEO of the Ecobank Foundation, Julie Essiam, said: “This unique partnership demonstrates the commitment of African institutions like Ecobank using their own resources and knowledge to make a significant contribution to the sustainable development across Africa. Aligned to our vision & mission to develop Africa, at Ecobank, we help develop the communities we serve.”

    Technical training will be delivered by Ecobank Nigeria and through the placement of Accounting for International Development (AfID) consultants, who are all members of the Nigerian Diaspora taking time off to volunteer on this specific project.

  • Nigeria, Global Fund, seal agreement on HIV, Tuberculosis

    Nigeria, Global Fund, seal agreement on HIV, Tuberculosis

    Nigeria and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have signed five grant agreements worth 335 million dollars.

    This is to support programmes that would aid prevention and treatment of HIV and tuberculosis in the country.

    The information is contained in a release signed by the Head, Grant Management Division of the Global Fund, Mark Edington.

    Edington said the grant agreements were a critical part of the three billion dollars in 169 grants that the Global Fund has committed in 2012.

    “For Nigeria, the grant agreements address a tremendous need: Nigeria has the second highest number of people living with HIV in the world and only 30 per cent of people requiring HIV treatment are receiving antiretroviral therapy,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Edington as saying in the statement.

    He said that the grant-signing followed the launch in October by President Goodluck Jonathan, of a national program aimed at “Saving One Million Lives” by 2015.

    He said that Nigeria is committing $500 million to support the program.

    “Nigeria has made some big strides and to turn back now is unthinkable, but the challenges are formidable and much remains to be done.

    “There is now an excellent opportunity for Nigeria’s government to close the funding gap for antiretrovirals.

    “The HIV grants signed today will target “most-at-risk populations” such as female sex workers, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users.

    “Also, orphans and vulnerable children, including those infected with HIV; and HIV positive mothers who have recently given birth to children and are breast-feeding them,” the Global Fund chief said.