From Yakubu Wuyep,Jos 

The Plateau State AIDS Control Agency (PLACA) has disclosed that more than 44,000 people are currently living with HIV in the state, with new infections continuing to spread across the 17 LGAs

The Director of PLACA, Mrs Esther Turaki, made  this disclosure on Monday  while speaking to our correspondent  after receiving medical kits and equipment donated by staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Jos Branch, to strengthen the fight against HIV/AIDS in the state.

The items were presented to PLACA at the State Secretariat of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in Jos by a delegation led by the CBN Branch Controller, Jos, Mr Nathaniel Akwashiki.

Akwashiki disclosed that the medical equipment was purchased through personal contributions by CBN staff and did not come from the bank’s official budget.

According to him, the staff decided to contribute their personal resources to support HIV/AIDS programmes in the state, describing the gesture as historic, particularly at a time when reduced international donor support has created funding challenges for the sector.

He said the initiative was aimed at providing material assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS through PLACA.

Receiving the items, Turaki described the donation as historic and the first of its kind to the agency, noting that individuals had personally contributed resources to help address PLACA’s funding challenges.

She further disclosed that funding from the United States government had drastically reduced, affecting various local HIV/AIDS programmes.

She said the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning chairs the Technical Working Group on Domestic Resource Mobilisation, led by the Permanent Secretary, Mangu Dangnan Yohanna.

According to her, the reduction in funding previously received from the US government had affected some HIV/AIDS programmes, making domestic resource mobilisation increasingly important for sustaining interventions.

Turaki explained that the Technical Working Committee on Domestic Resource Mobilisation had embarked on advocacy visits to public and private institutions across the state to seek support, with the APIN Public Health Initiative facilitating the exercise.

She said the CBN was among the institutions visited during the advocacy campaign, adding that the donation was an outcome of the engagement.

The Director called on other organisations, individuals and corporate bodies to emulate the CBN staff by contributing cash, materials and other forms of support to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

She also urged residents of the state to get tested and know their HIV status, while advising pregnant women to attend antenatal care regularly to facilitate early detection and treatment.

Turaki further disclosed that PLACA was supporting the Ministry of Health in training health workers on Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) for HIV-exposed infants, particularly those born to HIV-positive mothers.

The Plateau State Coordinator of the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Mr Ezekiel Afan, and the Permanent Secretary, Mangu Dangnan Yohanna, appreciated the CBN staff for the intervention, describing it as a renewed source of hope.