Abuja – The joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) partners the network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on adherence to treatment and viral suppression in the fight to end HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
Dr Billali Camara, UNAIDS Country Director for Nigeria and UNAIDS Focal Point for ECOWAS, made this known in an interview with News Agency Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
Camara said the last 90 under the 90-90-90 target was adherence to treatment to achieve viral suppression, it was a critical area where CSOs can help to get the process done.
He said CSOs was a very critical and important tool for the fight to end AIDS in the world, we need an understanding on the importance of this collaboration so that the strengthening process can occur.
He said: “UNAIDS is supporting the CSOs to launch the new structure by the end of September 2015 and to see how we can move forward.’’
Camara said that activism was a very important tool in the fight to end the scourge and we are doing everything possible to get the CSOs hinged to certain policies.
According to him, the collaboration will assist the agency in moving forward the fight to halt the spread and elimination of the scourge.
“UNAIDS had assisted the Network of people living HIV/AIDS NEPHWAN and Association of women living with HIV/AIDs in Nigeria.
“We have put many processes in place that make them to be sub-recipient of Global fund.
“This means that resources will come to them to make sure they strengthen themselves and provide services to their pears that live with HIV/AIDS in the country.
“We are working with NEPHWAN to renew its leadership and the better ways to enhance the participation and performance of the union in the HIV/AIDS response.
“Beyond NEPHWAN there is association of religious leaders living with HIV/AIDS, young people living with HIV/AIDS we are also helping them to renew their constituencies,’’ he added.
He encouraged stakeholders to believe that Nigeria can overcome the burden of HIV; `Nigeria well’ was posed and pushed for the elimination of the disease in the past few years.
“We had looked at high burden states and acted together but we need to go the micro level and the grassroots level where the issue is very important,’’ he said
NAN reports that the 90-90-90 treatment target was launched at a high-level political session of the 20th International AIDS Conference held in July 2014 in Melbourne, Australia,
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The UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, set a new of treatment targets by 2020 which aimed at ensuring that 90 per cent of people living with HIV will know their HIV status.
Ninety per cent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, while 90 per cent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral load suppression. (NAN)
UNAIDS partners Civil Society Groups on suppressing HIV in Nigeria
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