National Agency for the Control of AIDs (NACA) has commended the U.S. government for issuing emergency waiver to ensure that millions of people living with HIV across 55 countries, including Nigeria, continue to receive life-saving treatment under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The waiver, announced on Tuesday by Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, allows funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, to flow uninterrupted despite a broader 90-day suspension of foreign development assistance. PEPFAR, the largest global initiative targeting the HIV/AIDS epidemic, provides antiretroviral therapy to more than 20 million people worldwide.

In a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, the Director-General of NACA, Dr Temitope Ilori, observed that Nigeria had the highest number of people living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in West and Central African region, adding that the recent executive order by the new U.S Administration to re-evaluate and realign United States’ foreign aid, which includes a 90-day pause on foreign development assistance, has raised significant concerns among our stakeholders with regards to HIV/AIDS and TB technical support and funding.

Ilori stated that over the past two decades, partners in the global AIDS response had intensively supported the Nigerian government and institutions in the country, to scale-up prevention, treatment, care and support for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.