By Eben Enasco Kingsley, Benin City
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki yesterday promised to distribute income generating equipment to most vulnerable people living with HIV/AIDS before the week runs out.
The Governor who was represented by his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Philip Shuaibu made the disclosure during the 2016 World AlDs Day, held at the NUJ press centre, Benin City.
“The state government will also distribute income generating equipment to most vulnerable people living with HIV/AIDS before the week runs out.
“We are very concerned about their plight and also very passionate about the health and well being of the citizens of Edo State.
“We have seen the pains suffered by people who are stigmatized and discriminated against because of HlV-positive status, and some are excluded from accessing treatment care and support services they so desperately needed”, he said.
He said the government is already making arrangements to pay the back log of its counterpart fund for HIV/AIDS so that it’s activities can continue in the state after the end of World Bank assisted HIV Programme Development Project II which is just two months away.
In her speech, the Project Manager, Edo State Agency for the Control of HlV\AlDs, Hajia Marietu Binkola, said so far over 2 million male and female condoms have been distributed to the general public since the spread of the menace.
With the theme: ” Hands On For HlV Prevention,” She said Edo state has about four million people ,with twenlve thousands people been infected with the virus. ” Nigeria has about 180 million people and 3.4 million people are living with virus. In Edo state, we have about four million people, and about 12, 000 are infected with the virus,” said Binkola.
Hajia Binkola lamented that most individual remain undiagnosed or when diagnosed may refuse to be initiated to treatment, until advanced stage of the disease is reached. The event also witnessed other speaker who spoke on issue of HlV\AlDs, and what to do to curb the scourge.
