THE ravaging Human Immune Deficiency Syndrome, HIV, and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS, is devastating the country's younger generation. Unless an urgent solution in the form of pragmatic healthcare provision is instituted, the nation might soon be bugged down by avoidable HIV/AIDS affliction.
Ayalew Abai, United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, representative at the 2006 Children's Day celebration in Abuja said that "young people represent the most afflicted group, as one in 20 young people, aged 20-29 years old, is infected by the dreaded disease." Almost 1.8 million out of a total of 3.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria are children.
More disturbing is the revelation that only very few pregnant women who are infected by HIV/AIDS in the country have access to good medicare to prevent transmission to their unborn babies. This discovery is scary and deserves urgent steps if the country is not to risk the future health of its population.
The children are the future trustees of the nation's posterity. They are expected to take over from the older generation which means they need sound health to be able to effectively achieve this purpose. Any nation with a sick youth population has a stalled future as a largely sick citizenry especially with a terminal disease like HIV/AIDS is a dead country. Some of these children are already orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
This should not be the portion of the country provided there is serious official attempt to nip the problem in the bud and a practical demonstration of self discipline in the sex life of citizens. Not all HIV/AIDS victims contract the disease through sex. Some unlucky ones got it through unsterilised needles and syringes. Something has to be done in this regard. Presently, the country has 200 health sites for treating HIV/AIDS patients. Compared to the 60 sites of previous year, this is an improvement but when correlated with the almost four million people living with HIV/AIDS, it is inconsequential - perhaps, a drop in the ocean.
It is in this light that we condemn the National Action Council on AIDS, NACA, for its poor documentation, which resulted in Nigeria losing foreign funding worth $150 million. Other reasons for the withdrawal was that only 23 per cent of the funds was utilised and the country's failure to demonstrate sufficient capacity to counter mother to child transmission.
We need to do more for ourselves as a nation and to show care for those suffering from these ailments. These treatment sites should be increased while treatment of those mothers involved should be free as majority of them cannot foot the high medical bill, or purchase expensive drugs for the management of HIV/AIDS. The nation cannot afford to look on while things get worse in this regard.
Source: Vanguard