US spent $3bn to fight HIV – Envoy

United States Government has in the last 10 years spent over $3bn (about N450bn) in the fight against HIV/AIDS and improvement of health care delivery in Nigeria. The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley, said this on Thursday when he visited the Primary Health Care Centre, Masaka, Nasarawa State.
The Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, a health agency of US and Nasarawa State Government rehabilitated the centre.
The visit enabled McCulley to interact with about 200 women living with HIV as well as to assess the facility.
The envoy said,  “In support of the partnership, the United States has provided about $3bn for prevention, treatment, care programmes and to build the capacity of the Nigerian health system.
“The US Government knows that any response to the AIDS epidemic must address gender disparities. Since its inception in 2004, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has supported programmes that address the particular issues women face in the HIV/AIDS realm.
“Through the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV programme, PEPFAR supports HIV-infected, pregnant women to have happy, healthy, HIV-negative children. Clinics like the one we stand before today not only offer antenatal delivery, and prenatal care; they also test for HIV and serve as an entry point for HIV-positive pregnant women and their families, providing antiretroviral therapy, care, and psychosocial support, in addition to care from prevention of pediatric transmission of HIV.
“With PMTCT services, the likelihood of an HIV-positive mother passing the virus to her child drops from 40 per cent. Increasing PMTCT services is one way to mitigate the impact of HIV on women and ensure an AIDS-free generation to come.”
The Permanent Secretary, Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Alhaji Suleman Mohammed, described HIV/AIDS prevalence as one of the greatest drivers of women’s poverty, morbidity and mortality in the state.