Rivers Legislators And Battle Against HIV

The battle against HIV/AIDS is fast assuming new dimension. Early this year the Rivers State House of Assembly at its 171st proceedings passed the bill to establish a state-owned agency that would help combat the malaise.

The bill has suffered several setbacks over the years due to lack of proactive measures by past administrations to formulate policies that would tackle the dreaded scourge to a standstill.

It was due to this lack of political will that infection rate  in the state has skyrocketed. Reports have it that the infection rate is at 7 per cent as against 5 per cent at the national level.

There are even grim statistics that indicate that women are the worst hit even though it has not been authenticated by the National Action Committee on AIDS.

Jolted by this picture, the Rivers State House of Assembly rose to the occasion. Watching the proceeding of the House it was as if the legislators were saying enough was enough.

Apart from Ondo, Lagos and perhaps few other states that have full fledged anti-HIV/AIDS agency, Rivers State is on the leed in the campaign to decimate the scourge.

Currently, the pandemic has  transformed from a point of emergency endangering not just the lives of its victims but the economic fabric of society.

The number is frightening. At the end of 2004, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNIAIDS) estimated that two-thirds of the 40 million people living with the virus were Africans since 3 million of the 5 million new infections in 2004 also occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, where infection rates are seven times the world’s average.

In some countries, as many as 40 percent of the total adult population carries HIV. In a region  nearly half of the population live on less than one dollar per day.

Perhaps it was these indices that the Rivers legislators pondered over that made them give a unanimous approval for the establishment of the agency.

Immediately the Committee submitted its reports, the legislators swiftly swung into action to scruitinize the bill. First was, Hon. Golden Chioma representing Etche Constituency in the House.

Hon. Chioma gave kudos to the Hon. Maureen Tamuno-led Committee for doing a thorough job and called for the quick passage of the bill.

While the commendation was yet to die down, Hon. James Ogbonnda representing Port Harcourt Constituency rose on his feet. He said, “Hon. Speaker Sir, after going through this report I think there are no laws against the discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS.”

The Speaker quickly came to the rescue. He informed the honourable House that there had been a law against such earlier promulgated by the assembly during the Odili-led administration.

The Speaker opined that discrimination was the major set back in the fight against the disease and called for a joint effort to end such negative social behaviour in the society.

In her submission, Hon. Maureen Tamuno from Ogu/Bolo Constituency commended the work of the Committee describing it as a job well done.

On the other hand, the Ogu/Bolo lawmaker pointed out short comings in the location of the agency, while drawing her arguments on the set-up of NACA and where it derives its power.

At the federal level, Hon. Tamuno argued that NACA is situated under the Presidency and as such does not make the Vice President a member of the board.

The same scenario she argued, should be replicated at the state level where the agency is expected to be located under the Governor’s Office.

Locating the agency under the Governor’s Office automatically makes the governor the head. But the Speaker in responding to the arguments of the legislators, said since the state chief executive heads the agency, there was no need to incorporate the deputy governor as also a member of the board.

While the argument on where and how the agency should be located raged on, a more subsisting argument crept in unto the floor. This time on membership of the board.

Hon. Maureen Tamuno explained that the underlisted ministries be members of the HIV/AIDS board agency, They include Health, Social Welfare, Women Affairs, Information, Justice, Education, Finance and Youth Development, including Agriculture.

A break down of their functions shows that the agency would be supervised by its parent Ministry of Health, Social Welfare would oversee the welfare of HIV/AIDS victims and all anti-social behaviour against them.

Ministry of Women Affairs is expected to assist in the area of women, since the scourge has a lot of women victims. Ministry of Information would oversee information dissemination and enlightenment.

Ministry of Justice is expected, according to law, to spell out and adjudicate on matters of discrimination in-line with the provision in the state statutes. Ministry of Finance is to is to ensure equitable utilisation of all allocated funds to the agency. It is  to oversee the financial policies of the board by making sure that there is accountability.

Because youths are more prone to the disease due to their exuberance and experimental nature, the Ministry of Youth – Development was incorporated into the board.

While functions of the other ministries were understandable and important, what about that of Agriculture? In short the Speaker Rt. Hon. Tonye Harry cracked a joke on the floor that he doesn’t understand what Agriculture as a Ministry would contribute in the fight against HIA/AIDS.

In his remarks, Hon. Onari Brown representing Akuku-Toru Constituency 1 made a very instructive observation. He stressed that the bill was overdue and that the state was far behind considering the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In the light of Hon. Onari’s remarks, resources for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes, though still woefully inadequate, are increasing. Many more African political leaders have taken personal leadership of anti-AIDS efforts.

A vibrant, engaged and independent African civil society, increasingly led by people living with HIV/AIDS, has emerged to energize the struggle, confront stigma and discrimination and give the disease a human face. The long, damaging argument over whether to fund treatment or prevention programmes appears to have settled in favour of a comprehensive response combining education, prevention, and care and treatment. All of these developments are reasons for hope, even if, for too many, they come too late.

The legislators in an effort to boost membership of the agency recommended that a representative of Nigerian Medical Laboratory Scientists and HIV/AIDS non-governmental organisations be incorporated.

The issue of HIV/AIDS testing seemed to have been more important to a member representing Andoni Constituency, Hon. Ibani Ikuinyi.

Hon. Ikuinyi observed that after going through the report, there were no provisions to make testing compulsory for both the public and civil servants to know their status. “That would have been part of the bill, “ he added.

Apart from recommending a compulsory testing for people to know their HIV/AIDS status, the Andoni born legislator also called for adequate statistics and records on the disease.

Hon. Ikuinyi believed that the compulsory testing would provide ready – made statistics for officials to work, decrying the poor records in the Ministry that has made it difficult for government to tackle the malaise.

As the debates were going on, Rt. Hon. Harry’s comments were salutary in that it provided the lee-way for members to lay their observations.

The Right Honourable Speaker had earlier in his remarks hinted of the need to setup a House Committee on HIV/AIDS to oversee this very important aspect of public health.

Rt. Hon. Harry noted “HIV/IDS is a disease that can wipe off a whole generation so it is not something to be played about”.

He therefore tasked members of the House to incorporate the campaign on the disease as one of their constituency project.