20 CSOs engaged to check HIV scourge in Adamawa

20 CSOs engaged to check HIV scourge in Adamawa
By Ibrahim MISTA ALI, Yola  /   December 3,2015
Adamawa State Agency for the Control of AIDS, ADSACA, has engaged 20 civil society organisations to carry out HIV/AIDS prevention campaign among most at risk populations in local government areas of the state.
 Executive secretary of the agency, Dr Stephen John made this known on Tuesday in Yola in a statement to mark this year’s World AIDS Day.
 John said the most risk groups included commercial sex workers, long distance drivers, in school and out of school youths, pregnant women and uniform service men.
 John said the agency was also able to implement HIV/AIDS prevention activities by four line ministries with funds from World Bank.
 He said the agency was also funding local action committees on HIV/AIDS in the 21 local government areas.
 The secretary said that the agency had upgraded 60 health facilities and also trained 130 health workers.
 On challenges facing the agency, John said apart from non-payment of counterpart funding since 2010, the agency had no functional vehicles for routine operations while a significant number of agency staff had been working for over 10 years on temporary basis and needed to be absorbed into the mainstream civil service.
 Also speaking at the occasion, the World Bank project manager on HIV/AIDS, Dr Mohammed Chubado raised concern over non-funding of the agency, which he said was posing a threat to effective fight against the scourge.
 Chubado lauded World Bank, FHI36 and ANNI for their active support in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the state.