Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Control, Amobi Ogah, emphasized the need for increased local funding to combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
Speaking at the 2024 Nigeria HIV Prevention Conference in Abuja, Ogah highlighted that Nigeria requires an estimated $8 billion annually to sustain the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Despite 1.63 million people receiving Antiretroviral Therapy, Nigeria still has the highest burden of children born with HIV globally.
Ogah stressed the need to re-evaluate and re-strategize HIV prevention programs, as the country’s target to eliminate mother-to-child transmission by 2030 remains a long way off, with only less than 50% national coverage of Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission, resulting in approximately 22,000 cases annually.
“For NACA to achieve her mandate, we must all ensure the increase of domestic funding, strengthening HIV interventions, mobilising community members for gender equality, social norms and gender equality in the optic of HIV prevention, treatment, and care service, particularly the PMTCT of HIV, support people living with and affected by HIV, the campaign against the stigmatisation and discrimination of persons living with HIV/AIDS, and ensure leadership action for these and key population communities among other interventions.
“NACA will also need to scale up its treatment centres, which is about 100. I think we should increase it to at least 300 by the end of 2024. To stem the tide and sustain the fight to end HIV through AIDS as a public health threat, funding is critical. An estimated N$8bn is needed annually to sustain the fight against HIV/AIDS,” he noted.
He emphasised that the committee will continue to advocate for an increase in funding to the sector, provide legislation that will promote comprehensive healthcare, support research, ensure access to quality treatment and strengthen partnerships crucial to the collective success.
“We will double up our oversight functions to ensure that funds budgeted for HIV/AIDS response are used for the purpose for which they are meant.
“The National Assembly, as a representative of our communities and people will continue to provide strong leadership that will engender robust collaborations and partnerships with relevant stakeholders and to achieve the focus set goal that HIV AIDS is no longer a public health threat in Nigeria by 2030,” he added.