President Olusegun Obasanjo has announced Nigeria's donation of $10 million to the Global Fund in the fight against the pandemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The President made the announcement in a goodwill message to the inauguration of the Board of Friends of the Global Fund Africa, set up to fight the pandemics in Africa, holding in Kigali, Rwanda, on Monday February 12.President Obasanjo said, "If HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis continue unchecked, they have the potential to damage our social fabric, diminish agricultural and industrial production, undermine political, social and economic stability, and contribute to national, regional and global insecurity".
He said Nigeria had scaled up interventions from prevention through to treatment, support, care and mitigation against the effects of the pandemics, leading to a reduction of HIV/AIDS prevalence in Nigeria to 4.4%, down by 1.4% from 1999.
The President stated that in the nation's determination to achieve health-related Millennium Development Goals and improved levels of health for the citizens, several interventions have been launched, including the National Health Insurance Scheme.
He appealed to Global Fund and other development partners to "intensify its already commendable level of assistance to fight against these diseases, which threaten to circumscribe our progress and prosperity".
Source-Bio-Bio Technology
SRM
