September 24, (THEWILL) – As part of efforts to eliminate HIV/AIDS by 2030, the Taraba State Agency for the Control of AIDS (TACA) is partnering with the state House of Assembly for a law that would sanction those who deliberately infect others or fake medical certification for marriages.
The Director of the Agency Dr. Garba Danjuma disclosed this during an interaction with members of Taraba Health Media Advocacy Network (THMAN) in Jalingo.
Danjuma said that significant progress has been made in the last decade, however, the major challenge is some targeted groups including commercial sex workers, Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders (LGBT) indulge in very risky behaviors that pose a major threat to the efforts made to rid the world of the virus.
The Director also said that while some of these groups are abhorred on moral and religious grounds, it is very important to work with them so as to reduce the threat they pose to themselves and the general public.
According to Danjuma, “We have made significant progress I the battle against HIV and AIDS. From second in the country in 2012, we are now the fourth, which means we are the highest in North East and second highest on the North, second to Benue state.
“We have over 40k on treatment and the projection is that over 80k are carriers. This means we need to change strategy so that we can reach the most vulnerable sections.
“Drug addicts have the tendency of sharing shringes same way commercial sex workers also put themselves at risk by having unprotected sex and so we are targeting these groups specifically and pregnant women. Other key groups include Lesbians Gays Bisexuals and Transgenders, (LGBT) who equally indulge in very risky behaviors.
“That is why we are Collaborating with the state Assembly for a law that sanctions persons who are positive and decieve others into marriage or who forge medical certificates. We would focus on premarital counseling and testing and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission.
While lamenting the ugly scenario, Danjuma said that there were over a thousand LGBT in the state and the level of prevalence amongst them remains very alarming.
Danjuma however, pointed that the drive for a robust collaboration with the media is premised on the fact that there is still a lot of enlightenment to be done.
He said that Press men are able to reach all sections of the society in ways that are very impressive hence the agency is counting on that effort to achieve positive results.
In his remarks, the State Chairman of the Media network, Alhaji Sadiq Adamu assured TACA that the media network would work with the agency and other health partners to ensure that the well-being of the people remains a top priority at all times.
