The Nation Newspaper

Tag: HIV/AIDS

  • Adamawa Assembly passes law on compulsory HIV/AIDS, genotype test for couples

    Adamawa Assembly passes law on compulsory HIV/AIDS, genotype test for couples

    The Adamawa House of Assembly on Wednesday passed a law for compulsory HIV and genotype (sickle cell anaemia) test for couples before marriage.

    The law was unanimously passed after the third reading of the bill at plenary presided over by the Speaker, Alhaji Kabiru Mijinyawa.

    A motion for the third reading of the bill was moved by the Majority Leader, Mr Hassan Barguma (APC-Hong), and seconded by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Emmanuel Tsamdu (APC-Madagali).

    The speaker of the house then directed the Clerk of the Assembly to make clean copy of the bill and send to the governor for his assent.

    Parts of the bill stipulated that any couple intending to marry would be subjected to a compulsory HIV/AIDS and genotype test that should be conducted in public hospitals or registered diagnostic centres one week before the marriage.

    The bill also required that the certificate of the two tests should be presented to any religious institution or the clergymen of church or mosque where the wedding would be contracted.

    “Any person or persons who have complied with this law in fulfillment of the requirement of the previous marriage shall not on this basis evade undergoing the test when contracting any subsequent marriage,” the proposed law stated.

    Part three of the bill also made case for non-discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS and sickle cell anaemia in the state.

    “Individuals, communities, employers and employees have a mutual responsibility to prevent discrimination on basis of HIV (AIDS) or Sickle Cell Anaemia in the society.

    “No cultural practice or tradition shall encourage documented practices that exposé people to risk of HIV infection,” the bill said.

    It further provided for a penalty of N150,000 for individuals and N500,000 for organisations or imprisonment for a period not less than one year or both for any person or institution found guilty of non-compliance with the law.

    With regard to organisations, the head or representatives of the board of the organisation would be held liable, the bill said.

    NAN
  • Ekiti NMA clamp down on quacks, illegal medical centres

    Ekiti NMA clamp down on quacks, illegal medical centres

    Nigerian Medical Association ( NMA ), Ekiti State chapter, on Sunday, says it has signed a pact with the state government for introduction of accreditation of health facilities to fish out operators of illegal medical centres.

    The NMA Chairman in Ekiti, Dr Sunday Omoya, made this known at a news conference to round-off the 2017 Physicians’ Week and  Ordinary General Meeting of the medical body.

    He said the medical body regretted the activities of some unregistered medical practitioners in the state.

    He added that such activities had been affecting medical practice and denting the image of members, saying “this must stop in the overall interest of health security of residents of the state.”

    He commended the Gov. Ayo Fayose-led state government for implementing Consolidated Medical Salary Scale ( CONMESS ) for all categories of doctors in the state, noting however that the policy had not been beneficial, owing to the six months salary owed doctors.

    Omoya said a total of  300 people were offered free medical treatment by doctors at Ipole Iloro in Ekiti West Local Government Area during the 2017 Physicians’ Week.

    He added that NMA held medical education for rural dwellers on  dieting, hypertension, HIV/AIDS and other ailments ravaging the people at the

    grassroots.

    He urged government to pay members’ salaries and fund health institutions, particularly the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital(EKSUTH), to improve healthcare delivery in the state.

    He noted that “we have set up a committee to look into the issue of quackery. We reached an agreement with state government on accreditation and re-registration of all health facilities in Ekiti.

    “We are looking into the genuineness of health facilities to know if they go beyond the scope for which they are registered.“If a facility is registered as a maternity or clinic or hospital, it can’t go beyond that scope but in Ekiti, some maternity homes are performing surgeries and this is wrong and dangerous.

    “Defaulting facilities will be shut and the owners prosecuted accordingly.”

    He commended the state government for being among the five states that met 70 per cent  benchmark in immunisation coverage.

    On the issue of non-payment of salaries, Omoya said: “We are pleading that even if all the arrears won’t be paid, government should bring us

    as per with our colleagues in civil service.

    “As we speak now, we are owing government six months salary, while civil servants are owed five months and this is demoralising doctors in health institutions.”

    NAN

  • FG’s partners commit $100m to rebase HIV epidemic in Nigeria

    FG’s partners commit $100m to rebase HIV epidemic in Nigeria

    Federal Government’s partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS have set aside US$100 million to conduct a national survey to rebase the epidemic in Nigeria.

    Dr Erasmus Morah, Country Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS ( UNAIDS ), made the disclosure in an interview on Sunday in Abuja.

    He said that most support for the survey would come from the United States Government and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

    Morah said available data showed that Nigeria has about 3.2 million people living with HIV, with a prevalence of about 3.2 per cent.

    “Some people feel that Nigeria doesn’t have as many as 3.2 million people living with HIV, while others feel that more than 3.2 million people are living with it in Nigeria.

    “We need to take a closer look at its prevalence in Nigeria. A national survey will tell us the exact prevalence in the country,’’ he said.

    Morah said the survey would be conducted in 2018.

    He said that UNAIDS was providing support to Nigeria to own and sustain funding the HIV response.

    Morah commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent commitment to maintain 60,000 people living with HIV on treatment.

    He also commended the efforts of the president to care for additional 50,000 people on treatment each year, using domestic resources, as part of Nigeria’s HIV Fast Track plan.

    President Buhari’s groundbreaking commitment to care for additional 50,000 people was made in a statement issued on his behalf by the Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Sani Aliyu.

    He made the statement during the side-event on the HIV Fast Track at the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York.

    “I envision a situation in future where the Nigerian government will be paying for antiretroviral drugs, test kits and other consumables that its citizens rely on to remain alive, healthy and productive,” he said.

    NAN

  • HIV/AIDS: Nigerian researcher calls for clinical trial of drug

    HIV/AIDS: Nigerian researcher calls for clinical trial of drug

    A researcher, Prof. Madubuike Ezeibe, has called on the Federal Government to carry out a clinical trial of the drug he invented, Aluminum-Magnesium Silicate ( AMS ), for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

    Ezeibe, a professor of Veterinary Medicine, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), made the call in an interview in Umuahia on Monday.

    Clinical trial is a study that explores whether a medical strategy, treatment, or device is safe and effective for humans.

    It shows which medical approaches that work best for certain illnesses or groups of people.

    According to the don, he presented a paper on the potential of the drug as both antiviral and raw material, at a world conference on Ethnopharmacology in Chicago, United States, on May 2, 2016.

    He said that more than one year after he invented and presented his findings at different international conferences, no authority anywhere in the world had disputed the research findings.

    “I therefore appeal to the federal government to institute an inter-ministerial committee to carry out clinical trial of the drug in six centres across the country without further delay.

    “The committee should comprise federal Ministries of Health, Education, Environment as well as Science and Technology, with, at least, 1000 sample patients from each state of the federation.

    “Some of the findings of the research include that silicates have molecules that are 0.96 nanometer in size while HIV has molecules as big as 110 nanometer.

    “The particles of AMS are positively and negatively charged, while HIV-infected cells are positively charged.

    “The AMS are immune stimulants; one can use simple sugar (glucose) to transport charged molecules across the mucus membrane to the blood.

    “Glucose helps to transport the drug to any part of the body, including ‘the sanctuary’, where other drugs cannot reach to attack the HIV-infected cells.

    “So, if these findings are true and nobody has challenged the claims of the research, let the federal government set up an inter-ministerial committee to conduct clinical trial of the medicine,’’ he said.

    Ezeibe expressed joy that the Vice Chancellor of MOUAU, Prof. Francis Otunta and the University Senate had investigated his claims and given their approvals.

    He said that aside from the support from the university, the Abia Government also sponsored the publication of the book on AMS which, according to him, is now available for sale.

    The researcher said that no fewer than 500 HIV/AIDS cases within and outside Nigeria had been referred to him which he treated.

    “All the HIV cases were referral from a medical doctor to the Medical Director of MOUAU. I have also handled referrals from different parts of African and Asian continents,’’ Ezeibe said.

    NAN

  • CHISTRE, other give succour to IDP returnees in Yobe

    CHISTRE, other give succour to IDP returnees in Yobe

    The Centre for HIV/AIDS and STD Research (CHISTRE) in conjunction with Mavrodi Mondial Movement (MMM) recently, provided health services to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) returnees in Gujuba Local Government area of Yobe State recently.

    During the visit to the community, its medical team provided free malaria screening and treated over 500 cases of malaria and vaccinated over 300 women and children against typhoid fever.

    Speaking during a courtesy call to the Hon. Commissioner of Health, Dr Muhammad Kawuwa, the MMM Community Relations Representative, Amaka Benson said the need became necessary because of the massive influx of returnees to Yobe State.

    She said: “We provided support to CHISTRE to implement a minimal integrated health program to complement the Federal Government which is in collaboration with state government, the private sector and development partners to mobilize resources for rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement of the region. Notable is the Presidential Committee for the North-East Initiative (PCNI).

    MMM is pleased to be part of the rehabilitation process. We were shocked at the level of devastation in Gujuba community.”

    Speaking, Nduka Ozor, Project Director, CHISTRE, said the state and PCNI are committed to the rebuilding of the entire Northeast adding that nothing is too small to offer to IDPs in the region and thanked MMM, the state government and PCNI for reaching out to Gujuba community

    Responding, the commissioner for health Dr Muhammad Kawuwa appreciated MMM and CHISTRE, while the state coordinator of PCNI Mr Musa said that PCNI’s primary focus is to coordinate interventions for the rebuilding, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the people of the Northeast that were devastated due to the Boko Haram insurgency.

    Yobe State was at the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2012. The insurgency which affected Guijigba Community which was almost razed down resulted in killing and maiming of thousands and this culminated in indigenes fleeing their homes.

  • Fed Govt praised on commitment to PLWHA

    It sends a message of hope to people living with HIV/AIDS or  PLWHA in Abuja and other parts of the country.

    Since the 1980s when the epidemic named HIV/AIDS arrived the shores of Nigeria, it has wrecked lived and gulped huge amounts of money and other resources while scientists across the world have been working tirelessly to find a curAe.

    Concerned about Nigeria’s position as the country with the third largest infected population (about 3.2 million) of PLWHAs, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS had ratcheted  up efforts to ease the burden of taking  proper care of those already infected with the virus

    That informed their joint involvement in the celebratory mood recently over the Federal Government’s new commitment to use domestic funds to provide antiretroviral drugs to an additional 50,000 people living with HIV each year.

    “We are encouraged by the enthusiasm that the Federal Government is showing towards putting more of its own financial resources to the HIV response. This is one sure way of helping Nigeria to end AIDS by 2030,” said the Director General of NACA, Dr Sani Aliyu.

    “UNAIDS is thrilled by the new momentum and firm commitments that the Government of Nigeria is bringing to its HIV response. We are eager to support the process of putting more people living with HIV in Nigeria on treatment,” said the UNAIDS Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Erasmus Morah who recently resumed in Nigeria after serving in some eleven countries.

    It is all more heartwarming and indicative of progress when one notes that now, a new national HIV survey, a Trust Fund and support for local manufacture of ARVs in pipeline.

    For NACA, WHO and UNAIDS as well as a huge number of HIV-positive Nigerian citizens, including those living in Abuja, it is a welcome development that instead of complete dependence on foreign donors’ assistance, the Federal Government has now committed itself to using domestic funds to provide antiretroviral drugs to an additional 50,000 people living with HIV each year.

    Nigeria’s commitment was announced in a speech by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the successfully concluded high-level side event convened by the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, in collaboration with UNAIDS, during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA. The side event was meant to accelerate action and get countries on the Fast Track to end AIDS by 2030.

    “We recognise the impact of the global financing environment and the need for shared responsibility in order to end AIDS in Nigeria by 2030,” said President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement read on his behalf by the Director General of NACA, Dr Sani Aliyu.

    “Thus, we have committed to increased domestic resourcing of the AIDS response. In the light of this, the Government of Nigeria is committed to maintain the current 60,000 plus clients on life saving medicines and an additional 50,000 new clients per year,” President Buhari said. He announced that Nigeria had already put more than one million people living with HIV on treatment.

    Other important new commitments announced by President Buhari included working with partners to conduct a national population-based HIV survey to gather new evidence to guide Nigeria’s response, a plan to establish a private-sector funded AIDS Trust Fund as well as securing of HIV funding commitments from the States. President Buhari also expressed commitment to offering an enabling environment for the local manufacture of antiretroviral drugs in support of Nigeria’s policy to immediately put any person who tests positive for HIV on treatment.

    While Matthias Adamu, an activist for HIV-positive persons describes the development as part of a much-needed change that Nigeria had been waiting for, Charles-Martin Jjuuko, a Communications and Global Outreach Officer at UNAIDS in Abuja emphatically asserts that such joy and the new ray of ray of hope is really justifiable when past and current circumstances are duly considered.

  • Tanzania records reduction in HIV/AIDS cases

    Tanzania records reduction in HIV/AIDS cases

    The Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) said on Thursday that the country recorded reductions in HIV/AIDS infections from 72,000 in 2013 to 48,000 in 2015.

    Director-General of TACAIDS, Mr Leonard Maboko, made this known while briefing the Parliamentary Committee on AIDS on the responsibilities of the commission and the recently-established AIDS Fund, in Dodoma.

    He, however, said that in spite of the declining infection rates in the country, 40 per cent of new cases were among the youths, between 15 years and 24 years.

    Maboko said that there was a small decline in new HIV/AIDS infections in the country and that deaths related to the disease had also reduced “mainly due to use of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs’’.

    He stated that currently, “the situation is not good since the commission depended entirely on donor funding, thereby forcing TACAIDS not to perform its duties properly.

    “We depend on donors by 97 per cent to fund our activities and the government contribution is merely three per cent.

    “The fund will help to improve the provision of services like the purchase of the ARV drugs which cost a lot of money,’’ Maboko said.

    He said that HIV/AIDS was like other diseases that derailed national development, and urged the government to put in place strategies aimed at reducing new infections and eliminating the disease in Tanzania.

  • NAS, EDOSACA screen 305 for HIV

    NAS, EDOSACA screen 305 for HIV

    The Edo State Agency for the Control of AIDS and HIV (EDOSACA) in collaboration with the National Association of Seadogs (NAS) aka Pyrates Confraternity has screened 305 persons in two communities for HIV/AIDs.

    Individuals who tested positive to the disease were referred to comprehensive centres for confirmatory test and initiation into the Antiretroviral Therapy.

    The HIV Testing Service (HTS) outreach was carried out at Aruogba Community in Oredo Local Government Area and Ugbogui Community in Ovia South West Local Government Area.

    Program Manager for EDOSACA, Hajia Mariat Binkola, said the exercise was to sensitize the people, especially those in the rural areas on the uptake of HIV test, so as to reduce the risk associated with the disease.

    Hajia Binkola noted that the agency has carried out a lot of awareness on HIV/AIDs but there was need for routine tests as part of the agency’s continuous schedule.

    She said the turnout of people in the rural areas for the free HIV/AIDS testing services showed that people were cautious about the spread of the disease.

    The Network of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (NEPWAN), and the Association of Women Living With HIV/AIDS joined the team to counsel and offer support to those that tested positive.

  • US still committed to global funding of HIV/AIDS campaign – Official

    US still committed to global funding of HIV/AIDS campaign – Official

    Deborah Birx, the US Global AIDS Coordinator, says her country is still deeply committed to global funding of the campaign against the pandemic.

    She gave the assurance  at the ongoing International AIDS Society  Conference on HIV Science  in Paris, France.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Birx was reacting  to  fears of a possible cut  in  global funding of the HIV/AIDS campaign  by the Donald Trump administration.

    NAN  also reports  that some experts had  expressed fears  of a possible retrogression in the gains recorded so far in the bid to achieving the vision 90:90:90.

    “The US is deeply committed to global funding and the increasing commitment to global funding is absolutely essential,’’ she said.

    Michel Sidibe, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS),  said global funding  had brought much gains to  HIV programmes across countries.

    “We are breaking the backbone of the HIV epidemic.

    “There are 19.5 million HIV-infected persons on treatment today globally and this has increased the reduction in mortality rate by no less than 50 percent.

    “I have met the senators in the US and some other stakeholders. I can tell you that they all support the programmes,” he said.

    Sidibe said that there was need to think about transition and sustainable plans, noting that  there should be alternative funding of the programmes in the coming years.

    The director stated that any cut in  global funding would jeopardise the efforts and gains recorded so far in the treatment of HIV-infected persons and research works.

    “A cut in  global funding will affect vulnerable countries, particularly those in West and Central Africa due to financial gap,’’ he said.

    NAN also reports that  Prof. Agnes Buzyn, France Minister of Solidarity and Health,  had pledged the commitment of the French government to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

    Buzyn had at the opening ceremony of  the conference  on Sunday evening stated that  France remained the second largest contributor to global funds.

    The opening ceremony of the conference was attended by Prof. Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, a co-discoverer of  the HIV and Nobel Laureate.

    The conference, which began on Sunday,  would end on Wednesday.

  • Kwara earmarks N69m to curtail spread of HIV/AIDS

    Kwara earmarks N69m to curtail spread of HIV/AIDS

    The Kwara State Government has earmarked N69 million to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the state.

    The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Sulyman Alege, announced the amount at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Kwara State Action Committee on AIDS (KWASACA) in Ilorin on Friday.

    The commissioner; represented by the Director of Medical Science and Training, Dr Gbenga Johnson, said that the government would not relent in its efforts to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and other diseases in the state.

    He also said that the state government would continue to support the committee in its task aimed at curtailing the scourge.

    Dr Salimata Lawal, the state HIV/AIDS Programme Manager, commended the state government for adequately funding the programme aimed at reducing the scourge.

    Lawal said that an additional N15 million had also been approved to buy HIV/AIDS test kits that would be distributed to all the 16 local government areas to curtail the disease.

    The programme manager said the agency would create more centres in the state for it to achieve its objectives.

    The Secretary of KWASACA, Dr Lawal Saleem, said the stakeholders’ meeting was organised to deliberate on how all the stakeholders could work as a team to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the state.

    He said the agency’s aim was to design and implement state action plans for the prevention and control of the scourge.

    Saleem said that the agency had succeeded in reducing HIV/AIDS’ prevalence from 4.3 per cent in 2014 to 2.3 per cent in 2016.

    According to him, the agency has continued to engage in community mobilisation against HIV/AIDS’ spread across all the communities in the state.