Stakeholders in HIV/AIDS response in Rivers State have called on the state government to release budgeted funds for HIV/AIDS in the state directly to those vested with the responsibility of implementing HIV/AIDS programmes.
This was part of a five-point communiqué issued at the end of a one-day “HIV Domestic Resources Mobilisation Technical Working Group focused on Civil Society Organisations in Rivers State with selected ministries, departments and agencies held in Port Harcourt.
The stakeholders, who called for such funds to be released directly to the Rivers State Agency for the Control of AIDS (RIVSACA), in line with the ministries and Rivers State AIDS control programme (SASCP), noted that it would make it easier to promptly address identified gaps in HIV/AIDS response in the state.
According to the stakeholders, the call is necessitated by development that Rivers State is among the 12 + 1 states with the highest burden of HIV/AIDS at 70 percent.
This prevalence has witnessed an increase in Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV), as well as a number of orphans and vulnerable children, and hence resulted in an increase in health expenditure.
While acknowledging the efforts of the state government under the leadership of Governor Nyesom Wike in the health sector as exemplified in increased budgetary allocation and building of mother and child hospitals among others, the stakeholders emphasized on the need for more prompt actions towards HIV/AIDS responses.
The stakeholders also called for the re-inauguration of the Board of RIVSACA, approval of the Rivers State Contributory Health Insurance Programme (RIVCHIP) by the Executive for onward passage by the State House of Assembly, and provision of a suitable office for RIVSACA.
