NGO alleges extortion of HIV patients in Delta

The Executive Director of Keyenum Immalah, Mrs. Faith Nwadishi, at the weekend alleged that free anti-retro viral drugs were being sold to carriers of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) by the Delta State Hospital Management Board.

Nwadishi, who heads the non- governmental organisation (NGO) with interest in HIV/AIDS issues, decried the development.She told The Guardian that measures were being taken to bring those behind the act to justice.

“We at the NGO level are very concerned about the extortion of HIV/AIDS positive carriers by the anti-retro viral drugs dispensers at the State Hospital Management Board and we have written Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to ensure that those behind the act are brought to book, ” Nwadishi said.

Reacting, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Azinge, said the governor was already looking into the petition with a view to fishing out the culprits.While stating that the prevalence the scourge has reduced to 0.7 per cent in the state, Nwadishi, however, expressed optimism that a pending bill at the House of Assembly seeking to establish an agency for the monitoring and control of the disease in the state would be assented to by the governor on or before the 22nd of next month.

“Delta State remains the only state in the country without a state HIV/AIDS agency. It is a global issue that needs serious attention. We have worked with DELSACA to promote awareness. The essence is to ensure a reversal of the trend of infection,” she added.

Nwadishi decried the vote for girl-child education in this year’s budget as “serious embarrassment”, hoping that something urgent would be done about it.“But then as civil societies, we are already strategising on how to ensure funding for the agency,” the executive director added.