Nigeria To Intensify Fight Against HIV/AIDS

Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the AU Commission, Amb. Bulus Lolo, said that Nigeria would not tolerate new HIV infections.

Lolo said this in Addis Ababa when he hosted the Nigerian delegation to an International Conference on HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) to a dinner at the Nigerian Embassy.

Lolo, who doubles as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, stressed that HIV treatment was very imperative to Africa because of its high population.

He, however, gave the assurance that Nigeria would continue to take necessary measures that would lead to the total eradication of the disease.

“Any disease that has the potential to kill is an enemy to humanity. What we need is a partnership between the three arms of government and sustained research to find a vaccine for the disease,’’ he said.

Lolo stressed that if all the requisite resources were harnessed and well-utilised, HIV and AIDS would certainly be eradicated in Nigeria. Also speaking, Dr Halima Nyako, wife of Adamawa State Governor, said that the conference was an eye-opener that would motivate African countries to scale up and sustain the fight against the disease.

“We are in Addis Ababa to fight and protect our future generations, we all believe that this is the right time to do that,’’ Nyako said.

Nyako, who led the Adamawa State delegation, said that the large Nigerian delegation to the conference demonstrated the level of Nigeria’s commitment toward the campaign against the disease, particularly its efforts to stop new infections and mother-to-child transmissions.

Mr Umar Kasim, a member of the House of Representatives’ Committee on HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis, said that the House leadership found it expedient to excise the committee from the health committee due to the importance it attached to the campaign against the three killer diseases in the country.

Kasim, who represented the committee’s Chairman, said that the committee would reach out to other legislators across Africa to contribute to efforts to eliminate the three diseases on the continent.

Prof. John Idoko, the Director-General NACA, who noted that Nigeria had achieved a lot in the crusade against the HIV pandemic, thanked Lolo for hosting the delegation to a dinner.

Our correspondent  reports that Assemblyman Abdul Musa of Borno State House of Assembly led Borno State delegation, while Mr Mukhtar Katsina, Secretary to the Katsina State Government led the state’s delegation to the conference. Reports say that more than 200 Nigerians, including representatives NGOs, attended the four-day conference.