By Chioma Umeha
The wife of the Lagos State governor, Mrs Bolanle
Ambode has expressed concern over adolescents living with HIV in the state, and
pledged to support them to actualise their potentials.
Addressing journalists at an “Adolescent Advocacy
Meeting with policy makers on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents
living with HIV in Nigeria, the representative of the wife of the Lagos State
Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, Mrs Rhoda Ayinde, said the state has put in
place vocational skill centres that will foresee to the training of adolescent
living with Human Immune Virus, adding that it will not rest on its oars.
She however stated: “I will team up with other
governors’ wives of states like Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Benue, FCT and Kaduna. We
will empower and sensitize these adolescent and also involve all stakeholders
to see that HIV is totally eliminated. The two weeks summer camp from August 23
to September 2, is geared towards these course ”
Also speaking at the event, the Permanent
Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, said the state has 344 health
facilities to prevent Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Lagos State,
adding that 104 of the health facilities are private hospitals.
The PS however said that Lagos State has
established adolescent and youth centres and care givers have been trained to
keep matters of these HIV-positive youth confidential.
She said the awareness of the virus has increased
across board but access to treatment is slim, commending the Lagos State Action
AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) and called on the youth present living with the
virus to continue in the line of determination to achieve their desired goal.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) HIV
Specialist, Dr. Victoria Isiramen stated that, “about 196,000 of adolescent
living with HIV in Nigeria and globally accounts for 10 per cent of adolescent
living with disease.”
Isiramen added that no society should neglects its
youths, stating that, “UNICEF launched ‘The All In Initiative’ in 2015 which
means that all hands must be on deck to ensure adolescent are brought to ground
level and meet with the needs of all adolescent living with HIV.”
