Posted on: Tue 25-08-2020

The Society for Family Health (SHF) have commenced the distribution of Covid-19 palliative to Person Living With HIV/AIDS in eight out of the sixteen local government councils of Taraba state. 

Persons to benefits from the palliatives as made known by the leadership of the organisation,  are the pregnant women and children from age 0-14 years old who visit facilities spread across the piloting local government councils. 

Ahmed Yusuf, the State Team led of the organisation who made this known Tuesday in Jalingo while flagging off the exercise along side with the Director General of the State Agency  for the Control of AIDS (TACA), Dr. Garba Danjuma, said the project which  is Christianed 'Lafiya Yara' would be implement in Jailingo,  Zing,  Wukari,  Bali,  Gashaka,  Gassol,  Sardauna and Karim-Lamido as councils.

Yusuf who said the organisation have earmarked out plans to test 112,500 pregnant women and 300,000 children in the aforementioned local governments,  said the three years project is being funded by Aidsfonda which according to him, is being implemented by the SHF in collaboration with the Institute of Public Health of the Obafemi Awolowo university and the Taraba state government. 

While pregnant women according to him would be provided with transportation to enable them access facilities, children under the aforementioned years, as made known by him,  would as well be provided with the relevant nutrition supplements at the various facilities visited .

This he said is aimed at creating awareness for pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics (ANC) and to as well encourage children under the age of 0-14 to  present themselves for HIV screening. 

Impressed by the SHF move towards heralding smiles on the faces of persons living with the disease,  TACA Director general,  beckoned at other partners who are yet to cue in to as a matter of urgency borrow leaves from SHF as the state according to him is determined to create conducive environment for partners willing to come to the aide of the state government. 

Enumerating the efforts of the state governor,  Arc. Darius Dickson Ishaku,  toward fighting the scourge,  the agency in collaboration with the state Ministry of health,  as well as the state government,  he said would leave no stone unturned to further reduced the prevalence rate of the scourge. 

The DG who observed that the efforts of the agency have being yielding positive results,  said the state prevalence which in the past used to be 10.5% have being drastically reduced to 2.9%, the feat which according to him was achieved following the olive branch extended to the agency by the number one citizen of the state 

Elated by the development,  the leadership of the Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS,  Led by it state coordinator,  Lyide Johnson, who believed that the items which includes nutrition supplements would go a long way to address the plight of the persons living with the disease, said "these would not only help to boost our immunes,  but would also help us to produce healthy children. "

While calling aligning her weight to that of Dr. Danjuma, by calling on other partners to queue behind SHF, like Oliver Twist,  she admonished the leadership of SHF to tread extra legitimate miles to scale up the programme in the remaining eight local government councils of the state.

By Charles Akpeji 

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