Staff of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Jos branch have supported the Plateau State AIDS Control Agency (PLACA) with medical kits and other materials to strengthen the fight against HIV/AIDS in the state.
The items were presented to PLACA on Thursday at the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, State Secretariat, Jos by a delegation from the CBN.
The presentation was witnessed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and Chairman of the Technical Working Committee on Domestic Resource Mobilisation, Mr. Yohanna Mangtu.
Presenting the items, the CBN Branch Controller, Jos, Mr. Nathaniel Akwashiki, explained that the materials were procured through personal contributions by staff of the Jos branch of the bank, rather than from the institution’s official budget.
Akwashiki said PLACA had earlier approached the CBN seeking support for its HIV/AIDS response programmes, particularly amid funding challenges affecting the sector following reductions in international donor support.
He said the staff decided to pool their resources as responsible citizens to support the agency, adding that the gesture was aimed at providing material assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS through PLACA.
Receiving the items, the Executive Director of PLACA, Mrs. Esther Turaki, described the gesture as unprecedented in the history of the agency, where individuals personally contributed resources to support the HIV/AIDS response in the state.
Turaki said the reduction in funding previously received from the United States government had affected some HIV/AIDS programmes, making domestic resource mobilisation increasingly important to sustain interventions.
She explained that the Technical Working Committee on Domestic Resource Mobilisation had embarked on advocacy visits to public and private institutions across the state to seek support, with assistance from APIN Public Health Initiative facilitating the exercise.
According to her, the CBN was among the institutions visited during the advocacy campaign, and the presentation was a direct outcome of that engagement. She urged other organisations, individuals and corporate bodies to emulate the CBN staff by contributing cash, materials and other forms of support.
Turaki further disclosed that Plateau currently has more than 44,000 people living with HIV and continues to record new infections. She therefore called on residents to get tested and know their HIV status, while urging pregnant women to attend antenatal care to enable early detection and treatment.
She said PLACA was also supporting the Ministry of Health in training health workers on Early Infant Diagnosis for HIV-exposed infants, stressing the importance of testing and providing appropriate care to children born to mothers living with HIV.
The Plateau State Coordinator of the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Mr. Ezekiel Afan, and other stakeholders appreciated the CBN staff for the intervention, describing it as a renewed hope.
APIN Public Health Initiative also reported that the state records about 100 new HIV patients enrolling for treatment weekly, prompting renewed calls for individuals and corporate organisations to support the fight against HIV/AIDS.
