Foundation tasks Delta Assembly on passage of HIV/AIDS bill

Koyenum Immalah Foundation, a civil society organisation, on Saturday urged Delta House of Assembly to pass the Delta State Action Committee on AIDS (DELSACA) Bill into law without further delay.

Ms Faith Nwadishi, the Executive Director of the foundation, made the call at the Media and Legislative Roundtable it organised, with support from DELSACA and the World Bank, in Asaba.

Nwadishi stressed that the bill’s passage would enable DELSACA to become an agency.

According to her, this will enable it to attract the necessary support from relevant stakeholders to raise funds for the fight against HIV and AIDs in the state.

We are counting down on the day the bill will be passed by the House of Assembly to make DELSACA an agency.It is our hope that after the bill’s passage, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa will sign it into law,’’ she said.

Mrs Bridget Anyafulu, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Child Rights Advocacy, at the event, commended the foundation for its efforts to combat HIV and AIDs in the state.

Anyafulu pledged the governor’s commitment to signing the bill, an executive one, into law as soon as it was passed by the legislature.

According to her, the focus of the bill is to bring the prevalence rate of the HIV and AIDS in the state to zero.

Therefore, the issue of DELSACA becoming an agency in Delta is a concluded matter.

This is because all the stakeholders are committed and I am sure that our governor will sign the bill, whenever it is passed by the House, into law,’’ she said.

Assemblyman Alphonsus Ojo, member representing Okwuani Constituency in Delta Assembly, said that the bill had reached at the final stage for its passage.

Ojo, who was represented by his legal adviser, Mr Hessington Okolo, expressed the hope that as soon and the bill was passed, the governor would give assent to it.

Earlier, Ms Hope Nwadishi, the Project Manager of the foundation, said that the roundtable was organised to strengthen advocacy for the passage of the DELSACA Bill into law.

According to her, the event is also to review the state’s budget for the control of HIV/AIDS in the state.

After becoming a legal entity, DELSACA will have the full capacity to access all the means and opportunities made available by several individuals, international organisations and donor agencies for the fight against HIV and AIDS,’’ Nwadishi said.