From Mohammad Ibrahim, Kaduna
Kaduna State coordinator of Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, Benjamin Daniel said there are over 600,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Kaduna, a figure, which he said raised the HIV/AIDS prevalence in the state from 5.2% to 9.2%.
According to him, out of this figure, only 380,000 victims are on care, according to Ministry of Health report.
Speaking at the commissioning of a maternity complex at General Hospital, Sabon-Tasha renovated by Centre for Integrated Health Program (CIHP) in Kaduna State, Daniel said government needs to do something to save the lives of the people.
He therefore appealed to the state government to come to the rescue of people living with HIV/AIDS in the state.
In her remark, the Chief Executive Officer of CIHP, Nigeria, Dr. Bolanle Oyeladun commended the state government for the significant partnership the centre has been enjoying; saying they will continue to work hard until Nigeria achieves 0% infection and make sure that every life counts.
She said that in terms of reagent for haematology, the centre has received the request from the Kaduna State Ministry of Health.
“We have quantified the reagent, the annual reagent need is about N148million and we have forwarded that to the Ministry, while they have also assured us that they will take up the sustainability of the service,” she said.
The wife of Kaduna State Governor, Hajiya Fatima Ramalan Yero also commended initiators of CIHP project for renovating the maternity complex of the hospital and several other hospitals across the state.
“The health of women and children is of great concern to us. We have given attention to the pain, desperation and helplessness of fistula survivors in our state. Early this year, in collaboration with our development partners, we started the repair and restoration of the dignity of fistula survivors and so far, over 900 patients have been treated but our goal is to achieve 5,000 repairs by next year,” she said
She urged the development partners to extend their services to the rural areas where many women die of pregnancy related complications so as to prevent avoidable deaths.
Mrs Yero commended the gesture done by CHIP by renovating the hospitals in the state, saying that will lead to improvement of lives of the people of the state.
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