The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, has called on stakeholders to invest more time, political will, legal aid and funding to achieve client-centered quality HIV services in Nigeria.
Aliyu, at the inauguration of Heartland Alliance Nigeria Key Population Care one-stop-shop in Ikorodu, Lagos State, said collaborative efforts would lead to desired reduction of new HIV infections among key populations in Nigeria and enable Nigeria to end HIV/AIDS by 2030.
“The importance of HIV service delivery to key populations can never be over emphasised. Key populations are disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic. The IBBSS 2014 data revealed that 19.4 per cent of brothel-based female sex workers; 8.6 per cent non-brothel based female sex workers; 23 per cent men who have sex with men and 3.4 per cent people who inject drugs live with HIV in Nigeria.
“We must continue to collaborate and build on the progress made thus far in the fight against HIV,” the NACA DG said.
He noted that access to integrated HIV prevention and treatment services in facilities with well-trained staff would help the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“This one-stop-shop model which Heartland Alliance Nigeria has adopted effectively increases the uptake of prevention and linkage to treatment in more conducive settings that protect the privacy and upholds the dignity of key populations. It is known that before 2008, only about 1000 key populations were on treatment. However, with the commencement of one-stop-shop in Nigeria, we now have more than 37,000 key populations on treatment for HIV,” Aliyu said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Heartland Alliance Limited, Mr Bartholomew Ochonye, said the fight against HIV/AIDS may not be won if everyone was not given equal attention and treatment.
He said, “Indeed, we cannot win this war against HIV and AIDS if we don’t win over this key and important population by ensuring that everyone is involved and treated fairly. This is indeed a worthy cause and Heartland Alliance Nigeria is privileged to be at the frontline of this fight.”
He added that the firm had been engaging key populations in targeted education, advocacy, capacity building, economic empowerment, rights-based interventions, access to justice, gender equity, mental health and psychosocial support.