Institute takes HIV/AIDS battle to school, market

The battle against the menace of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) has been taken down to the grassroots in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
PeoplesDaily reports that penultimate week, the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN) supported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) and the United States of America (US) Mission commemorated World AIDS Day with students of Senior Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3 Abuja, with a message to the students to combat the spread of the virus.
The programme which took place at the Government Secondary School in Wuse Zone 3, with the theme “Behavior Change for Epidemic Control” had more than 200 Senior Secondary School students from 10 public secondary schools across the metropolis as well as key Government officials from the education and health sectors in attendance.
In particular, a talk on the importance of HIV prevention among young people was given, during which students were advised students to play an active role in stopping the spread of the dreaded disease.
Also, at the Utako market, the Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council, (AMAC) Abdullahi Candido called for increased focus on community awareness to educate the large concentration of illiterate and semi-literate population in rural areas of the HIV and AIDS disease.
Candido who was represented by his Vice, Lawrence Onuchukwu made the call at an activity flagging off the 2017 World AIDS’ Day in the council organized by the
The AMAC Chairman also appealed to the FCT Administration and other relevant non-governmental organisations to intensify collaborative efforts with the council.
Similarly, a Senior Technical Assistant at the IHVN and Focus person of AMAC, Comfort Ochigbo stressed the need for everyone to avail themselves of the free test and treat policy and collaborate towards the global focus of ending the disease in 2030.
She noted that the institute and it’s partners picked the market as it is a place where everybody comes. So the market she stressed provided an avenue to reach everybody, without living anyone out.
On his part, Dr. Young Oluogun, the IHVN Regional Manager of the FCT described as untrue the claims that the United States and other donors had cut down on their support.