Mrs. Florita Durueke, the Executive Director, New HIV Vaccine and Microbicides Advocacy Society (NHVMAS), has called for support in the treatment and prevention of Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV).
She made the call during the 2021 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Accountability Forum in Abuja on Saturday with the theme “Protecting the Gains of HIV, TB and Malaria Response in Nigeria Within the Context of COVID-19”.
She said CSOs required support polices because they played critical roles in the treatment and prevention of HIV.
Durueke, who said there was need to critically look into how CSOs get involved, build capacity and make appropriate remuneration for the services they provided, added that there was also need for investment in building CSOs’ capacity and make appropriate remuneration to support them.
The executive director noted that community-based services had been found to be helpful in sustaining HIV prevention and treatment activities.
She noted that “while balancing the resources in terms of investment in controlling COVID-19, we also have to make appropriate resource allocation to HIV, TB and Malaria.
“There is need to also strengthen partnership between government and implementing partners, as well as donors and communities, so that we can put efforts together and be able to sustain response.
“We also have to recognize a human right base approach to make sure that relevant stakeholders have access and really integrated in a responsive and meaningful manner.”
Mr. Moses Okpara, the Executive Director, Comforters Empowerment Initiative Nigeria (CEIN), said “what came out clearly in this conference was the role, ownership and commitment of CSOs.”
Okpara said that the conference tried to bring out the current reality of what happened in the HIV, TB and Malaria activities and prevention.
He noted that the desire was to outline the best approach to manage and protect the gains made in Nigeria within the context of COVID-19 response.
He said that one of the things that came out clearly in the course of the conference was that accountability was key.
He noted that CSOs on their part needed to be more serious and dedicated to the task at hand “because it involves human lives. (NAN).
