Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State says his administration remains committed to optimal control of HIV and AIDS, noting tremendous progress in the prevention, treatment, and care of persons affected or infected by HIV in the state.
In a message to mark the 2021 World AIDS Day, issued by Ismaila Uba Misilli, Director-General (Press Affairs), Government House, the Governor described the theme of this year’s commemoration, “End Inequalities, End AIDS,” as appropriate. He noted that, as much as the virus itself, the social stigma attached to it greatly affects people.
Inuwa said there must be deliberate efforts to move faster on a set of concrete actions agreed by United Nations Member States to address the inequalities driving HIV.
“AIDS remains a pandemic, the red light is flashing, and only by moving fast to end the inequalities that drive the pandemic can we overcome it. Progress in AIDS, which was already off track, is now under even greater strain as the COVID-19 crisis continues to rage, disrupting HIV prevention and treatment services, schooling, violence prevention programmes and more,” he said.
He stated that “today, we also celebrate the drop in HIV prevalence in Gombe State from 2.5% in 2014 to 1.2% in 2021. This great achievement was a result of our collective hard work and commitment and due largely to the leadership of the State Government in partnership with local government institutions, development partners, the UN system, Global Fund, civil society organizations and others.”
The Governor, however, said despite the remarkable successes recorded, there are still gaps that must be filled in order to reach the last mile, adding that “we can only achieve this if we continue to work as a team. Let’s remain focused as we approach the finish line of this important race against HIV and AIDS.”
Inuwa Yahaya said his administration recently released funds for the procurement of HIV testing kits to enable testing of over 200,000 people across the state.
He appreciated the contributions of the State Government’s HIV/AIDS Coordinating body (GomSACA), implementing partners, the State STI/AIDS Control Programme (SASCP), the Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), Centre for Integrated Health Programme, Network of People Living With HIV and AIDS (NEPWHAN), UNICEF, Society for Family Health (SFH), and numerous CBOs, noting that their impact has been significant.
He concluded that the fight against HIV and AIDS is not over until zero prevalence is achieved in Gombe State, adding that the 2021 World AIDS Day theme is “End Inequalities. End AIDS. End Pandemics,” and that activities must be aligned with communities in the state.
