As foreign donor funding shrinks, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Control, Mr. Amobi Ogah, says about $8bn is required annually to sustain the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country.
Mr. Ogah stated this during the closing ceremony of the 7th National Council on AIDS. The three-day high-level meeting brought together policymakers, health experts, civil society leaders, and development partners to deliberate on the theme: “Advancing the HIV Sustainability Agenda in the Changing Global Policy on Aid.”
The Council meeting served as a strategic platform for collaboration, policy alignment, and renewed commitments to Nigeria’s fight against HIV/AIDS.
Mr. Ogah, in his address, identified funding as the bane in the fight against the HIV/AIDS response in Nigeria and all African Countries.
Mr. Ogah called for increased domestic funding for the health sector to end Nigeria’s reliance on foreign donors for the funding of malaria, HIV, and TB programmes.
He stated that the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Malaria Control had done a lot to provide legislative support for a government-led Sustainability of the HIV response in our Country.
“ We have provided increased budgetary allocations to the sector and reinvigorated our oversight of the activities and programs in the response against HIV/AIDS. We are aware that over 70 percent of the resources for the fight against HIV/AIDS in our Country come from external sources, and we in the Committee on ATM will continue to advocate for increased domestic funding for the response against HIV in our Country.
According to him, improved life expectancy among adults living with HIV, coupled with increased time on antiretroviral therapy, has led to an increase in both infectious diseases, such as bacterial infections, including Tuberculosis, Salmonella infections, and Mycobacterium avium complex viral infections.
Punch/Toyosi Eniola
