A civil society group, Koyenum Immalah Foundation (KIF) has raised the alarm that persons tested positive to HIV/AIDS are being ektorted at various hospitals in Delta State for treatment.
Executive Director of the KIF, Mrs Faith Nwadishi who raised the alarm, alleged .that the Anti-Retro-viral. Drugs which are supposed to be free for the HIV/ AIDS patients are being sold in various hospitals.
"But the other challenge is that positive persons are supposed to be given drugs and'kept on ARVs, now we discover that they are extorting money from them at federal and state hospitals to get the drugs. We need to be able to check all of that," she said.
She spoke in Asaba at the end of a media/legislative roundtable conference on the proposed bill to set an agency for the control of the scourge in the state.
According to her, it is hoped that before August 22, the House of Assembly would have passed the bill and the governor would have assented to it considering the fact that it was an executive bill.
"It is not just enough to assent it anyway, the governor should also provide the funds for the implementation of the law. We are sug-gesting that one of the ways to provide funds is through the public-private partnership." She decried the under funding of HIV/AIDS pro-gramme in the state, and expressed optimism that when the agency is finally set up, civil society will now be more committed to think about strategies to assist government with regard to funding.
On the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the state, Mrs. Nwadishi said the rate has reduced 0.7 percent, adding that the rate was estimated because a lot of people do not access HIV/AIDS counseling and testing centers to know their status.
"You know that prevalence rates are calculated based on the number of women who go for antinatal and they do HIV test. So that is an estimated rate, it is not an actual rate because you have a lot of young people, married women and people who may not have access to HIV/AIDS counseling and testing units.
"Sometime ago, we went to a community where we had about 110 persons, most of them were pregnant women and less than five of them have actually gone for counseling and testing.
"The latest figure, how-ever, shows that more pregnant women are now going for HIV/AIDS counseling, because they have access to it," she said.
By: Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Daily Sun News
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