The Chairman, House Committee on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Control, Honourable Amobi Godwin Ogah, has vowed that his committee will do everything within its powers to revisit the HIV/AIDS Anti-Discrimination Act 2014, which makes it illegal to discriminate against people based on their HIV status
Hon. Oga disclosed this in his speech at a walk procession to commemorate 2023 World AIDS Day, organised by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in Abuja.
While speaking further, Hon. Oga explained that the act prohibits any employer, individual, or organisation from requiring a person to take an HIV test as a precondition for employment or access to services that become fully operational.
He said, “This is the least we can do for this community, and we are fully committed to seeing this through.”
“On behalf of my colleagues, let me assure Nigerians, especially the community of people living with HIV/AIDS, that we are fully with them and will join them to fight the harmful stigma and discrimination that hinder people living with HIV from fully realising their potential.”
“While acknowledging the significant progress made over the past decades, we are also not oblivious to the challenges facing the global HIV/AIDS response, including insufficient funding, dangerously high rates of 1.3 million new HIV transmissions annually, and an estimated 630,000 deaths still occurring each year. In support of the global call for community leadership, we are determined to ensure that, as a country, we also respond with a more robust local resource allocation to the HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria interventions in Nigeria.”
“To honour all who have lost their lives to AIDS-related illnesses, to support those who carry on the fight, and to unite people globally in battling HIV/AIDS, I will flag off this walk and urge all of us to play our part as the community that we are.
I acknowledge that TB is one of the leading causes of death amongst people living with HIV.”
“Therefore, to end TB is to end AIDS, and we remain committed to the vision to fight and end the three diseases (AIDS, TB, and malaria).
I urge all stakeholders, partners, and communities to lead by feeling free to approach parliament. As parliamentarians, we are representatives of the people, and we are committed to amplifying the voices of the people.”
“The ATM committee is aligned with the vision of the government of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the leadership of Honourable Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and is doing everything possible to reduce the suffering of the people and in support of a renewed hope for Nigeria and Nigerians.” He said.
Meanwhile, the AHF Nigeria Country Programme Director (CPD), Dr Echey Ijezie, said AHF Nigeria is actively and happily playing a supporting role to support the effort of the Nigerian government through NACA and the Federal Ministry of Health to end AIDS by 2030.
He added that this can be seen in our deliberate interventions across our state, where we are prioritising projects that advance gender equality and that build the leadership potential at the grassroots level so that, in the real sense, we are empowering communities to lead.”
“Importantly, we are investing heavily in community education through radio to empower rural dwellers with the knowledge and information needed to prevent new infections and guarantee their welfare,” He said.
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