Jonathan launches New HIV/AIDS Response Plan

Goodluck Jonathan with President Boni Yayi and President of Nigerjpg

FROM RIGHT, PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN, NIGER PRESIDENT,
MAHAMADOU ISSOUFOU AND BENIN REPUBLIC PRESIDENT, BONI YAYI ARRIVING
FOR THE OPENING OF THE SUMMIT

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday launched a new initiative designed to achieve universal access to the prevention, treatment, care and support for all Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS.

FROM RIGHT, PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN, NIGER PRESIDENT, MAHAMADOU ISSOUFOU AND BENIN REPUBLIC PRESIDENT, BONI YAYI ARRIVING FOR THE OPENING OF THE SUMMIT
FROM RIGHT, PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN, NIGER PRESIDENT,
MAHAMADOU ISSOUFOU AND BENIN REPUBLIC PRESIDENT, BONI YAYI ARRIVING
FOR THE OPENING OF THE SUMMIT
The new programme tagged “President’s Comprehensive Response Plan”, PCRP, was launched during the ongoing Special Summit of African Union, the Abuja +12 Special Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and other related infectious diseases in Abuja.

Jonathan said the new initiative on HIV/AIDS was a demonstration of Nigeria’s commitment to the Abuja Declaration 2001 which mandated African countries to take measures to halt and reverse the progression of the infection in Africa.

African Union had in a summit in 2001 among others things, pledged to allocate 15 percent of their annual budgets to the improvement of the health sector.

He added that the programme was developed to promote greater responsibility and accountability for HIV/AIDS responses at national and sub-national levels.

“The government of Nigeria realizes that HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other infectious diseases pose a significant threat to human and economic development. We have developed this plan to accelerate the implementation of key interventions with respect to HIV/AIDS,” the President said while addressing delegates at the meeting with the theme: “Ownership, Accountability and Sustainability of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Response in Africa: Past, Present and the Future.”

He observed that Africa has made significant progress towards reduction of the incidence of the diseases during the intervening years since the national benchmarks of the Abuja Declaration of 2001 and the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment in 2006.

He also noted that the continent is still far from attaining all the targets to sufficiently secure the well-being of their countries and future.

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President Jonathan therefore said the new programme will help Nigeria “consolidate our progress in addressing the heavy burden with increased urgency, develop a stronger, home grown, sustainable health financing framework, we must take ownership of the process, and drive its implementation.

“This programme will help us bridge existing service gaps, address key financial, system and coordination challenges in current HIV/AIDS response systems. I have also directed the immediate development of a new and creative framework for sustainable financing of health to meet the targeted objectives,” the President stated.

In a speech he delivered on behalf of the Ban kii Moon, United Nations Secretary General, Professor Babatunde Oshotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Funds for Population Activities, UNFPA noted that strong leadership has pivotal to the successes recorded by African countries in the HIV/AIDS campaign over the years starting from when the Abuja declaration was made in 2001.

“Before the 2001 Abuja Declaration, HIV treatment in Africa was almost non-existent. Just 11 years later, 7.5 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy. Yet HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other infectious diseases still pose a significant threat to well-being and development in sub-Saharan Africa. The UNFPA Chief noted that with less than 1,000 days remaining to the MDG deadline on HIV/AIDS, failure to maintain momentum can halt and reverse progress being made against the disease currently.

“My call at Abuja+12 is for renewed leadership and increased domestic and international funding – new investment in improved tests and drugs, stronger services to deliver them,” the Secretary General stated.

Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA data indicates that 3.4 million Nigerians are living with HIV/AIDS.

In an address he delivered to declare the summit open, President Jonathan also advised other African countries to seek local solutions to the problems of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases affecting the continent to ensure sustainability. “We must stand in solidarity with one another, be proactive to our health challenges and increase intercontinental scientific research partnerships and development efforts to complement the various national and regional plans underway,” the President said.

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