Nigeria: HIV/Aids Still On the Rampage
Nigeria today joins the rest of the world to mark the World's AIDS Day. It is important to remember that the giant killer still devours many Nigerians. Indeed, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has raised the alarm that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the country does not encourage complacency on the part of government at all levels in the country. However, NACA said that, nationwide, HIV/ AIDS prevalence stabilised around 4 per cent, even as about 12 states carried a higher burden of the virus. The agency also pointed out that Nigeria was still behind the target in several important indicators: It is estimated 217,148 Nigerians died from the ailment in 2011 alone. About 3.4 million Nigerians were living with HIV, while 388, 864 people were newly infected by the virus in that year.
NACA noted that donor agencies' funding accounted for about 75 per cent of the expenditure in 2011. There was a prediction that new cases may rise in Nigeria as a result of rapid population growth, judging from recent increases in the spread of the virus in Mozambique and Tanzania. What this means is that the federal government and the 36 states and Abuja accounted for about 25 per cent of the HIV/AIDS campaign funds. Meanwhile, to keep pace with current spending, NACA stressed that about $30 billion is required by 2031. Judging by the lethargy on the part of governments in Nigeria, we are tempted to ask: where will this money come from?
It seems the HIV/AIDS campaign has been infected with the Nigerian disease: corruption. When was the president, Obasanjo once lamented that the federal government had pumped in more than N16 billion into the campaign with nothing to show for it. The reason then - and now - was that the campaign attracted a lot of pretentious attention from fraudsters who floated non-governmental organisations with the sole aim of cornering the budget with no plan whatsoever of making any move towards combating the pandemic. And these NGOs are run by elements who allegedly collude with the agency itself to track the funds as they come in.
But HIV/AIDS can be anybody's disease. Even those who play smart with funds meant to fight its spread are not excluded. It is like a man who tosses a stone up in a market; it may land on the head of his mother.
As the world marks this day set aside to draw everyone's attention to this virus that is threatening humanity, we urge government at all levels in the country to take the issue of funding more seriously. It should monitor funds' disbursement and use so as to ensure that the target segment of the populace benefits from them. Corrupt elements should have no hand in the campaign.
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Nigeria: HIV/Aids Still On the Rampage