CIHP, Kishimi support 18,000 vulnerable HIV/AIDS children in Gombe
No fewer than 18,000 vulnerable children have been supported through three community-based organisations (CBO’s) in all the eleven Local Government Areas of the State.
The intervention was aimed at supporting vulnerable children who are associated with HIV/AIDS in Gombe State by the Centre for Integrated Health Programme (CIHP) and Kishimi Shelter and Care Foundation.
According to Deborah Zakayo, Orphans and Vulnerable Children Lead for CIHP, said the engagement was part of its review meeting of a five-year Blood Grant programme which comes to an end by September 29th, 2022.
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Speaking at the closeout review meeting for stakeholders for Akko, Balanga, Gombe and Yamaltu-Deba LGA’s which was executed by Kishimi Shelter and Care Foundation, Zakayo said the HIV intervention and support was carried out through the health facilities.
She said, “we get the children from the facility by identifying an adult who is HIV positive, then we go to the household and identify the children that are positive and those that are negative, then enroll them for the intervention.”
According to her, those found negative are still considered vulnerable due to the positive status of their parents adding that, the intervention had been going on in the State for the past fifteen years when CHIP came to Gombe State.
“CIHP as an indigenous NGO has been supporting the Government of Gombe State for over fifteen years in the area of providing intervention on HIV prevention, care and treatment programmes.
“We currently cover 24 comprehensive sites where we provide full package of HIV/AIDS intervention from counseling services, provision of drugs to children, adolescents and adults that are HIV positive.
“What we did was to assign CBO’s to each facility so that as children are being enrolled from the health facilities, they follow up to the communities to ensure they provide counseling and social protection services for children and their care givers, “she stated.
She revealed that the intervention helped the State saying, “there was this National AIDS Survey that was conducted and HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Gombe State has drastically reduced”.
Executive Director, Kishimi Shelter and Care Foundation, Grace Samuel, attributed the success of executing the programme in Akko, Balanga, Gombe and Yamaltu-Deba LGA’s to the sincerity of purpose of her Foundation.
She said, “if we had diverted CIHP’s money, the communities would not have what they are reporting today. Integrity is one of the the key factor of the achievement we’ve seen today”.
Most of the Stakeholders at the meeting who included, religious leaders, community and traditional leaders as well as senior Local Government officials, were full of encomiums to Kishimi Shelter and Care Foundation for the numerous projects it executed in their communities.
