Nigeria has no comprehensive plan for HIV/AIDS - President Goodluck Jonathan

Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan has decried the non-existence of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS plan for Nigeria. This he said is evident in the continual increase in the number of people suffering from HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. He stated this while presenting his 2013 - 2015 emergency plan for HIV/AIDS in Abuja.


He said the goal is to ensure that no Nigerian is allowed to die of HIV/AIDS. To achieve this, he said requires a coordinated approach.

"If we must be able to achieve our target, we must have management plan. I believe that we don’t have that kind of comprehensive management plan. All departments are just spending but we don’t have a coordinated plan," President Jonathan said.

He noted that a strategic plan is needed to get corporate organizations involved in Nigeria's fight against HIV/AIDS.

He said: “I believe that there is no coordinated plan to bring the corporate organizations who will be willing to contribute towards the management. If we have this plan in place, gradually the prevalent rate will continue to drop year by year until we get to the level we are targeting. 

“If we must successfully manage HIV, we must have a comprehensive plan. We should ask ourselves questions like how many of anti-retroviral drugs doses we need as a nation for a month and for a year? How many do we need for Bayelsa State? How many for Benue State, etc? How can we fund it? How much are the states spending? What is the federal government spending?

“What are we getting from development partners? The funding gap: can we collectively procure these drugs to reduce cost? How do we make sure that all Nigerians know everything about HIV/AIDS to avoid new infections or transmission?"

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