Gombe Govt urges GomSACA, others to ensure sustainable takeover of fight against HIV/AIDS
………L-PRES Coordinator lauds Njodi’s reappointment
Gombe State Government has tasked stakeholders in the fight against the spread of AIDS to assiduously work towards ensuring a seamless and sustainable programme after international intervention in the next couple of years.
The Secretary to the State Government Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, who gave the charge when he played host to State Response Team on the Prevention and Control of AIDS on an Advocacy visit said the call became necessary to avoid losing the gains recorded by the state in the last 16 years.
The SSG said, for this reason and many more the State Ministry of Health, State Primary Health Care Development Agency and State Agency for the Control of AIDS are being directed to come out with a road map for the takeover immediately.
While commending the stakeholders for working tirelessly years back to bring down the prevalence rate of infections to a national record high of 97 per cent insisting that efforts must be sustained to keep the state free of AIDS.
He noted with delight the giant strides of Inuwa Yahaya’s administration in the provision of health care delivery infrastructure as evidence in the provision of a functional health facility in each of the 114 electoral wards of the state in addition to the upgrade of Specialist Hospitals Gombe, remodeling of Hospitals in Kaltungo, Bajoga and construction of a new General Hospital in Kumo.
Njodi added that to ensure efficient and effective manning of these health facilities about 400 personnel were employed with a plan in place to recruit 1000 more workers out of which 200 would be for the health sector.
On the need to house GomSACA in either the office of the Governor, Deputy Governor or the SSG’s, Njodi said government would look into it for the effective management of its activities inline with what obtains at the National level.
He further charged the stakeholders to always consider engaging in conversational languages and terms familiar to the people for their messages to achieve maximum results.
In their presentations earlier, the team lead who is the Project Manager GomSACA Hassan Mohammed Dawaki, Mrs Emily Madina, Dr John Aremu and the North-East Zonal Coordinator of NACA Dr John Tobias congratulated Governor Inuwa Yahaya on his reelection and the SSG on his well deserved reappointment.
They equally presented to the SSG the successes recorded by the state response team to include drastic reduction in the prevalence of AIDS transmission through coordinated counselling, testing, treatment as well support to persons living with the disease.
In a related development, the Coordinator Gombe State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Implementation Unit Dr Usman Bello Abubakar, has led members of his team on a congratulatory visit to SSG over his reappointment.
Abubakar said the reappointment of Njodi as SSG by Governor Inuwa Yahaya, didn’t come as a surprise to many especially those who have interacted with him.
He said the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Programmes premised on three cardinal pillars aimed at maximising the food and economic benefits of livestock.
The Project which is being largely sponsored by the World Bank according to Abubakar is to among other things ensure institutionalisation, strengthening, value chain operations to create jobs in livestock rearing, transportation, meat and components processing as well as conflict management between farmers and herders which he said has negatively affected both crops and animal productivity over the years.
Abubakar also appreciated the guidance and support of the SSG in the development project from the beginning to date.
Responding, Njodi said the project is an offshoot of the failed Ruga and the National Livestock Transformation Initiative of the outgone Buhari administration which was politicised by persons against the policies.
Njodi said in view of the inherent benefits of the project to individuals and the government of the state, Yahaya has accorded it all the needed support leading to the signing of memorandum of understanding MOU between the State Government and World Bank.
Joshua Danmalam
Information officer SSG’s office.
