The Ekiti State Government has increased the number of Anti-retroviral treatment centre from four to 15, while the number of prevention of mother to child centre is now 24 from the initial six in the last two years.
The revelation came to the fore during the 2013 World AIDS Day commemoration, State AIDin Ado-Ekiti, on Wednesday.
As part of activities for the day, the Chairperson of State AIDS Control Agency (SACA), Erelu Bisi Fayemi, also flagged off the community outreach HIV counseling and testing services.
Earlier, the governor’s wife; Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; SACA Project Manager, Dr. Charles Doherty, and other top officials of the state attended a sensitization and awareness rally that took them round Ado-Ekiti.
The event provided another opportunity for residents to undergo free screening for HIV, malaria, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and other life-threatening diseases; after which they were given free drugs.
Addressing participant at the end of the rally, Erelu Bisi Fayemi said that the free screening and drugs were part of efforts of the government to enhance the health of the citizens, in continuation of its free medical mission.
To mark the day, she said that SACA decided to move beyond the traditional sensitization and awareness rally by assembling a team of medical personnel and provided essential drugs to attend to the health need of residents.
In line with the theme of this year’s commemoration, ‘Getting to Zero - Take Charge: Go for HIV Test,’ she appealed to citizens of the state to submit to voluntary screening in order to know their HIV status.
She said Ekiti state devoted so much attention in recent times to increasing awareness on HIV/AIDS to the teeming rural populace where the prevalence was higher.
Erelu Fayemi added, “What is lacking mostly is the translation of this awareness into knowledge as a potent instrument for attitudinal change, especially among the most productive age of the population.
“If we are to achieve this year’s target, we must redouble our efforts in repositioning and redirecting our energy and resources towards the expansion of access to qualitative services.”
“We must pay particular attention to our teeming population at the grassroots where the prevalence and impact of HIV and AIDS are higher.”
In her remarks, the deputy governor pointed out that HIV/AIDS constitutes danger to the entire world, adding that the best way to stay healthy was for the people to know their status.
She said, “If you are HIV positive, you can still live for 30 to 40 years after detection if you go for regular treatment and avoid what can cause opportunistic infections.”
No comments:
Post a Comment