People Living With HIV/Aids Decry Negligence

Ahmed Mohammed Maiduguri

People living with HIV/AIDS have appealed to the Borno State government to assist them with vehicles, micro credit facilities including food supplements that will supplement the anti-retroviral drugs they are taking. They also called for the provision of poverty alleviation materials in order to become self reliant.

The project coordinator of Hope Initiative in Borno State, Mallam Hassan Mustafa, stated this while speaking with Kanem Trust at the Hope Initiative office, a non governmental organisation for people living with HIV/AIDS in Maiduguri.
The project coordinator said "people are running away from us because we are dependent. Most of us lost our dear ones who used to assist us. Some of us are widows, orphans while some of us lost our jobs and wealth in an effort to treat the deadly disease.

"If Borno State government will assist us with vehicles, it will enable us to take our members to the hospitals especially those in the rural areas while the micro economic credit facilities will make our members to be self reliant," he added.

Mallam Hassan Mustafa disclosed that the Hope initiative in collaboration with some HIV donor-agencies organised series of workshops for healthcare personnel, people living with HIV and the entire community so as to reduce the level of discrimination and stigmatisation against people living with HIV/AIDS and also to create awareness among the people living with the disease on how best to take care of themselves.

He said their organisation has arrenged and contracted over 20 marriages among the people living with the disease.

The chairman of the Hope initiative, Alhaji Mamman Musa, told Kanem Trust that he became infected with the HIV virus since 1993 and up till today he is still strong, he can drive his car and go anywhere without any problem .

Alhaji Musa said "I am going to live for another 14 years by Gods grace. I am a married man with one wife and three children. My wife is positive while my three children are negative and they give me all the necessary support required."

The chairman told Kanem Trust that eight of their members work at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital as counsellors to doctors and the people living with the disease.

He commended the federal government for helping them with anti-retroviral drugs free of charge under presidential emergency fund. He added that "the drugs assist us greatly in reducing the danger of the disease. Most of our people are happy with the drugs because it relieves them and allowed them to carry out their activities".

The chairman lamented on the way Borno State government did not include them in its poverty alleviation programme after they wrote about three letters but they didn't receive even acknowledgement and all their effort to see the governor or the commissioner did not succeed.

Alhaji Mamman Musa appealed to the state government to initiate programmes that will make them interact with people living with HIV with a view to alleviating their suffering and as well include them in government programmes that will make the people self-reliant since they too are indigenes of the state.

He appealed to their members to always take their drugs and not to loose hope that AIDS is like other diseases.