Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Director General of Taraba State Agency for the Control of Aids (TACA) Dr. Garba Danjuma, has disclosed that over forty six thousand persons are currently undergoing treatment for HIV/AIDS in the state.
Danjuma, who stated this in Jalingo when the coalition of civil societies paid him a courtesy call at the office said the agency was disturbed that the state still ranks top in the Northeast in terms of prevalence despite drastic measures by the agency.
He said that the prevalence rate of the virus in the state have dropped from 10.5% to 2.5% due to proactive measures put in place by the agency to ensure that the state is free of the virus or it is reduced to the barest minimum.
Danjuma said that the drastic reduction in prevalence was only achieved as a result of collaborative corporation of civil societies and urged them to continue to partner with the agency so that the unpleasant narrative can be reversed.
According to him “we have also developed a strategy where they (HIV patients) don’t miss their medications. We are giving them more than one month medications. In the past, we use to give them one month medications but because of the issue of the lockdown, we decided to give them medications that will last them at least three months so that they dont miss out as a result of the lockdown. It is our desire to see the CSOs doing more in the areas of COVID-19”.
Chairman of the coalition Mr Joseph Gimba who led the coalition on a congratulatory visit to Danjuma on his appointment as the DG of the agency, said the coalition have worked tremendously to uplift the lives of the people of the state.
Gimba said that the coalition have raised over N400 million which has been used to implement various programmes across the state, suggested that the government should fashion out plans for the appointment of their members as board members of agencies and parastals.
“There is no government institution in the state that have NGOs on their boards, meanwhile we are only working to complement the government. We are not working to take over the responsibilities of the government. It is therefore imperative for government to carry us along in their endeavors” Gimba said.
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