Metro

Two million Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS— NACA

Published

4 months ago

July 6, 2024

The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Temitope Ilori, says an estimated two million Nigerians are living with HIV/AIDS.

Ilori, who disclosed this on Friday at a retreat organised for members of the House of Representatives Committee on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Lagos, stated that presently, around 1.7 million carriers were receiving treatment for the disease.

Speaking on the theme “Leadership For Sustainability Of The HIV Response: The Role of The Legislature,” the NACA DG highlighted the global goal of eradicating HIV/AIDS by 2030, noting the importance of legislative support in achieving sustainability and effective coordination of the national response.

“We are working with an average estimate of about 2 million Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS and about 1.7 million of them are on treatment,” she said.

“But be that as it may, we realise that in the past 20 years or so, most of the treatment and most of the national response are being funded by partners, international donors, and international aid.

“I think it is time we start talking about ownership and sustainability.

“We have what we call the new business model. This is trying to use both national and subnational structures to take ownership, and to sustain the national response.

“We have a target of eradicating HIV/AIDS by the year 2030 which is the global target and we are trying to work towards achieving this.

“So, we believe that as stakeholders in this project, the honorable members supervising us as the ATM committee should be well abreast of the situation as at today and what our roadmap and our vision and mission are, and how we want to achieve the target to ensure the sustainability and ownership of the national response.

“That is why we deem it fit. The objective is mainly to foster the commitment of you honourable legislators to the ownership and sustainability of the HIV response and also to facilitate the effectiveness of the HIV response in terms of coordination and oversight function which I know is your primary assignment.”

Nigeria Country Director of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Leo Zekeng, who also spoke at the retreat, emphasized the severity of the HIV/AIDS disease, noting that it had infected around 80 million people and caused 40 million deaths globally over the past half-century.

“Remarkable progress had been made in reducing new HIV infections. We estimated that in 2023, we registered about 75,000 new infections. This is 8,800 per week. We have registered 45,000 AIDs-related deaths. About 900 per week,” Zekeng said.

Zekeng harped on the unsustainability of donor-dependent funding and called for greater legislative involvement to sustain the HIV response, adding that Nigeria was falling short of the Abuja Declaration’s goal of allocating 15 percent of the national budget to health.

“We passed the Abuja declaration of spending 15 percent of our budget for health. We are getting merely around 5 percent. And you will agree with me this is unacceptable. Nigeria is a very rich country,” he noted.

Related Topics:Disease Featured HIV/AIDS Nigeria Virus

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Metro

Zambia: President Hichilema sacks three Constitutional Court judges

Published

9 hours ago

October 21, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, has finally sacked three Constitutional Court judges whom he had earlier placed on suspension.

The affected judges, whose sacks are with immediate effect according to a statement by State House Chief Communications Specialist, Clayson Hamasaka, are Anne Sitali, Mungeni Mulenga, and Palan Mulonda.

Hamasaka, who announced the decision in a statement on Sunday evening, stated that the President acted on a recommendation from the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC).

“The removal of the judges is in exercise of the powers vested in the President under Article 143 (b) and (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia,” said Hamasaka.

Before their dismissal, the three judges had been suspended by President Hichilema who had then sought a judicial review from the Lusaka High Court, arguing that their suspension violated the principle of res judicata, meaning the case had already been settled.

The judges had also contended that the complaint, initially filed by Moses Kalonde, stemmed from the 2016 presidential election petition between Hichilema and former President Edgar Lungu, which was concluded in 2017.

They had sought to quash the JCC’s decision to reopen the matter, asserting that earlier complaints, resolved by Emmanuel Mtonga, Alfred Chims Mbewe, and Douglas Syakalima, had settled it.

The judges also requested a stay of the JCC proceedings, scheduled for 30 September, and the suspension itself, pending the High Court’s decision.

The judges had also called for an expedited hearing, with costs to be borne by the Attorney General, represented by Messrs Sam Chisulo and Company.

However, the court quickly dismissed their case, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.

Metro

Nigeria confirms supplying 24-hr power to Togo, Benin, Niger

Published

16 hours ago

October 21, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Despite its inability to provide steady electricity for Nigerians amid regular collapse of the national grid, Nigeria’s electricity regulatory body, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says Nigeria supplies 24-hour electricity to neighbouring Togo, Benin and Niger.

The Managing Director and CEO of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, who disclosed this in an interview programme on Sunday night, confessed that the three neighbouring countries enjoyed regular power supplied by Nigeria.

“We supply Togo, Benin, and Niger. They get power from Nigeria on a 24-hour basis, and they are paying for it,” Abdulaziz stated during the programme.

When he was asked why many Nigerians do not enjoy uninterrupted power like the residents of the countries, the TCN CEO said there are some Nigerians who enjoy 24-hour electricity.

“Nigerians are getting 24-hour supply, but it’s not everyone. Those in Band A receive 20-22 hours of power supply.”

Abdulaziz however, expressed optimism about achieving a consistent electricity supply across Nigeria within five years.

“I am telling you we can get consistent power supply in less than five years. The new minister is looking at the problems, he is not doing cosmetic showdowns.

“If there is a system collapse, it doesn’t mean all the problems are from TCN, it can be from generation, it can be from transmission it can be from distribution. Some of these can also come from disaster. You cannot say it is the fault of the TCN just like that. TCN are in charge of managing the grid.

“People have to understand the difference between the TCN and Nepa. When we were Nepa, we were the ones doing the generation, transmission, distribution and marketing.

“But now we are only doing one leg which is transmission. But there could be issues in all other sectors which are the generation and the distribution. But people only know Nepa and they think TCN is NEPA and they put the blame on TCN.

“Most of the equipment we use is over 50 years old. Electricity is now expensive in Nigeria, we feel it is expensive because we are getting it at a cheaper price. If you go to other African countries, go to Burkina Faso, Senegal, Niger; Nigeria is cheaper,” he stated.