Abia State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS has trained 58 secondary schools across the three senatorial districts in the state on the latest strategies against the pandemic in the state. The director general of the agency, Uloaku Emma-Ukaegbu stated this while interacting with newsmen in Umuahia, the state capital, adding that the teachers were expected to teach others.
Her words: “We’ve trained secondary school teachers, youth leaders, ward development committee members, and religious leaders among others.” “Nobody is left out in this effort. Everybody is identifying their place and what role they can play to help combat or eradicate it from the state before the donor agencies exit.”
She said the strategies include the elimination of terms or language that create fears in People Living With HIV/AIDS for those that inspire hope and avoidance of stigmatization and discrimination against them.
Emma-Ukaegbu explained that the agency believes that if it continued at the trajectory, it would get to a point where HIV/AIDS would become a thing of the past in the state.
According to her, there were times in the past when the rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the state was as high as 5.1 per cent, but now it is 2.1 and at the national level, 1.4.
“And a whole lot is being done. A few years back, we didn’t do as much as we’re doing now. Steadily and slowly, we’re getting there,” the director general added.
