FG Pledges $12m For Global War Against HIV,TB

The Federal Government has demonstrated its support and solidarity with the international community by making a financial pledge of $12million to the Global Fund toward tackling HIV and Tuberculosis.
The pledge was made in a statement by the Media Officer, National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA), Mrs Toyin Aderibigbe, yesterday, in Abuja.
She noted that the pledge was made by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at the Sixth Replenishment Conference of Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria held in Lyon, France on October 9 and October 10.
Aderibigbe quoted the minister as saying “every Nigerian has a right to good health. We have a responsibility to ensure that this basic right is available to all Nigerians.
“Government is committed to enhancing the ownership and sustainability of the HIV/AIDS response.”
He stressed that the pledge was in accordance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2017 to make government resources (approximately N3.5billion) available to enable an additional 50,000 Nigerians to be on life-saving Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy every year.
The Executive Director of the Global Fund, Peter Sands, who spoke on “Building on the Concept of Shared Responsibility” at the conference, said “with the incredible support of partners and donors around the world, we succeeded in reaching over $14billion to help save 16 million lives.”
The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Mr Gunilla Carlsson, said “Nigeria bears a huge burden of the global TB, malaria and HIV epidemics, so it is imperative that both domestic and international investments are urgently scaled up.”
The Director-General, National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Gambo Aliyu, described the increase in Nigeria’s pledge to the Global Fund as a strong signal of the country’s readiness and commitment to end tuberculosis, malaria and HIV epidemics.
He said “continued government funding for National Treatment and Prevention Programmes is vital for the sustainability of the AIDS response.”
The director-general, however, appealed to state governors to equally show commitment in investing to end AIDS in Nigeria as a public health threat by 2030.