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February 18, 2025
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SFH opens 6-day capacity workshop for key stakeholders in Bauchi

By Ahmad Muhammad.

The Society for Family Health opens a six day sensitization workshop for key human rights and legal stakeholders in Bauchi with an expert revealing a decline in the HIV/AIDS pandemic among key population (KP) in some parts of the country.

The Director of Strategic Information in the organization, Dr. Wole Fajemisin revealed this using a declining graph in the HIV/AIDS pandemic among the key population (KP).

SFH opened a 6-days sensitization workshop for key human rights and legal stakeholders in Bauchi while delivering the synopsis of the HIV program in Nigeria.

Fajemisin said the SFH is working assiduously to ensure and achieve an ambitious 95-95-95 as set by the United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS since 2014.

However, Fajemisin, the SFH director of Strategic Information explained that the strategy means 95 percent of people living with HIV to know their status, 95 percent of the infected people who know their status are receiving treatment, while another 95 percent of people receiving treatment are really suppressed.

He stressed that the aim is to terminate the AIDS epidemic by 2030 by achieving 95% diagnosed among all people living with HIV (PLHIV), 95% on anti retroviral therapy (ART) among diagnosed, and 95% virally suppressed (VS) among treated

“What is needed to achieve the first 95% and second 95% is by identifying new HIV infections”, he opined.

He further stated that barriers against testing needs to be removed, demand barriers include stigma and discrimination of HIV, of being a KP, poor HIV knowledge that comprise fear of testing, overconfidence of one’s negative status.”

Fajemisin reiterated that human rights are inextricably linked with the spread and impact of HIV on individuals and communities around the world.

The SFH strategists again pointed out that the lack of respect for human rights fuels the spread and exacerbate the impact of the disease, while at the same time HIV undermines progress in the realization of human rights.

In a welcome address, the Chief of Party, KP Care 2 project of the SFH, Dr. Abdulsamad Salihu divulged that over 2,000 peer educators exist among the KP areas.

Salihu, represented by Deputy Chief of Party of the project, Dr. Segun Oyedeji offered that the institutional capacity of KP is spearheaded by community based organisations (CBOs), adding that there have been increased access to HIV services through partnerships with KP Care 2.

At the workshop moderated by the Strategic Communications Specialist of the SFH, Farouk Musa Yusuf, the Deputy Chief of Party, Dr. Segun Oyedeji who delivered the Overview of SFH and KP Care 2 recalled that the first case of the HIV pandemic in the country in 1985 was discovered in Lagos.

He said it was found on a female victim and had since become widespread and a health emergency to the nation.

Oyedeji hinted that the SFH which marked its 40th year in Nigeria recently was founded by three prominent Nigerians from the West, North and East of the Federation namely Professor Olikoye Ransome Kuti and Malam Dahiru Wali, both of blessed memory as well as Honourable Justice Ifeyinwa Nzeako.

Also speaking, Michael Dubem, the DHRCLS of SFH recounted that the pan African non governmental Organization was founded to extenuate the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

He said the workshop which has as theme, Integrating a Human Rights Approach into HIV Health Care Service Delivery was attended by participate drawn from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in HIV/AIDS intervention.

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