The wife of the Governor of Oyo State, Mrs. Tamunominini Makinde has appealed to philanthropists and well meaning individuals in the state to partner with the Oyo State for the Control of AIDS (OYSACA) to fight HIV and AIDS to the end.
Mrs. Makinde made the call at a press conference to commemorate the 2019 World AIDS Day held at the agency’s office, Secretariat, Ibadan.
Mrs. Makinde, whose message was read by the Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr. W. A. Lanre Abass, disclosed that the annual World AIDS Day celebration is to build up new and effective policies and programmes to strengthen the health system, increasing capacity of health and community sector towards stemming the tide of HIV and AIDS.
This year’s World AIDS Day tagged “Communities make the Difference” is commemorated by government organizations, nongovernmental organizations, civil society and other health officials.
Mrs. Makinde explained that the involvement of community was to collaborate with people at local level irrespective of their education and social class to promote laudable policies and programmes of the government.
According to Mrs. Makinde, “Communities include community leaders, religious leaders, network of people living with or affected by HIV, Civil Society Organization, women and young people, counselors, community health workers, door-to-door service providers, peer educators and grass-root activists.
“World AIDS Day offers an important platform to highlight the role of communities at a time when reduced funding and shrinking space for civil society are putting the sustainability of service and advocacy in jeopardy.”
Mrs. Tamunominini Makinde, therefore, called for greater mobilization of communities to address barriers of service delivery, restrictions on registration and absence of modalities associated with communities.
World AIDS Day is celebrated on every 1st of December to unite in the fight against HIV and show their support for people living with HIV, as well as to commemorate people who have died from AIDS.
The Civil Society Organization’s Coordinator, Seun Onifade admonished the federal government to make funds available for the campaign against HIV/AIDS through counterpart funding.
Packaged by Kunle Gazali
