On Tuesday in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari launched a N62 billion trust fund to help Nigeria end AIDS as a public health threat and place more people living with HIV on treatment annually.
He pledged that his administration would continue to prioritize health interventions to address killer diseases and public health emergencies.
He said:
”At the last United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, I made a call for a renewed global action to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.
”Ending AIDS as a public health threat in Nigeria will require increased domestic funding. We have continued to make good our commitment of placing more people living with HIV on treatment annually using national resources.
”However, strong domestic resource mobilization with an enduring partnership and shared responsibility is required to sustain the response to HIV and other emerging public health emergencies.”
”Going forward, I hope The HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria will galvanize more of the private sector and other partners to surpass the target of Sixty-Two Billion Naira in the next five years,”
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha in his remarks, stated that since 2005 about 6.2 billion dollars has been spent on HIV response in Nigeria.
He said:
”About 80 per cent of the funds were contributed by external donors, mainly the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Private Sector contributed 0.1 per cent to two per cent of total funds with the rest of funds provided by the Nigerian government.”
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