HIV/AIDS: ALCO urges increased funding from member countries

Board chairman Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organisation (ALCO), Prof. John Idoko, has called for more effort from the governments of its member countries to enable the organization grow in strength.  ALCO was created through a joint declaration signed in April 2002 by the governments of the five coastal countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria. […]

Board chairman Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organisation (ALCO), Prof. John Idoko, has called for more effort from the governments of its member countries to enable the organization grow in strength.
 ALCO was created through a joint declaration signed in April 2002 by the governments of the five coastal countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria.
It’s executive and statutory bodies, were also established among which, is the Project Governing Board  (PGB).It is a synergy aimed at controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in the continent.
Idoko made the call during this year’s first annual statutory meeting of the governing board of ALCO in Abuja.
 The ALCO  board chairman who is also the director-general, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) said there is need for the governments of the five countries to revise their level of contributions to sustain the organization and enable it overcome challenges of resources and fund mobilization.
 He said the relationship of ALCO with its partners had been strengthened and extended. He explained that at the creation of ALCO in 2002, the World Bank was the sole development partner to finance the activities with the support of the five countries and the technical assistance of UNAIDS but that currently ALCO has received grants from the other partners.
 The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, said the meeting was organised to review the various activities implemented by ALCO in response to HIV/AIDS and to deliberate on the way forward on ensuring better collaboration among partners and for better programming and service delivery.
 Represented by his senior special assistant, Dr SegilolaAraoye, he said
HIV/AIDS, especially in Africa, is exacerbated by socio-economic and cultural factors, and effecting control has been challenging because of weak health system.
 Country director, UNAIDS Nigeria, Bamali Camara said the world came together two weeks ago to make significant declarations in terms of how the HIV/AIDS epidemic should be handled.
While urging ALCO countries to go beyond traditional approaches and scale up the standard of treatment, he said they work towards local production of anti-retroviral drugs, among others.