The Wife of President, Aisha
Buhari, has accepted the appointment as new UNAIDS Special Ambassador for the
Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Promotion of Treatment
for Children living with HIV in Nigeria.
Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive
Director, made this known in a statement issued by the Joint UN Programme on
HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) on Monday in Abuja.
On March 17, UNAIDS appointed
Buhari as UNAIDS Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child
Transmission of HIV and Promotion of Treatment for Children living with HIV in
Nigeria.
“I am privileged to announce
Aisha Buhari’s acceptance of the appointment as UNAIDS Special Ambassador for
Nigeria.
“The trust and respect that she
commands in the country will help us to quicken the pace of stopping new HIV
infections among children as well as ensuring treatment for all children living
with HIV,” Sidibé said.
Sidibé noted that the appointment
of Ms Buhari would reinforce recent efforts of Nigerian government to scale up
the response to HIV in the country.
The Director explained that
during her one-year tenure, she would advocate for increased access to
antenatal care services and HIV testing for all pregnant women and their
linkage to adequate treatment and care.
She would also advocate for an
increase in domestic resources for the HIV response at the federal and state
levels.
The statement also quoted Buhari
as saying that “It is with a great sense of responsibility and humility that I
accept the honour to serve as a UNAIDS Special Ambassador.
“I am looking forward to using my
voice to help ensure that no child is born with HIV in Nigeria by 2020,” she
said.
Mrs Pauline Tallen, Board
Chairperson, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), said the agency
was delighted that Buhari had accepted to serve as UNAIDS Special Ambassador.
She added that the goal of
eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Nigeria was a laudable one,
stressing that it must be achieved.
The statement said a formal
ceremony to commemorate Ms Buhari’s acceptance of her appointment would take
place in April during the visit of Mr Sidibé to Abuja.
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