The Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr. (Mrs) Ipalibo Harry Banigo has made the disclosure this in a statement from the Government House in Port Harcourt on Monday the 30th of November, 2020 in commemoration of the year 2020 World AIDs Day Celebration that the state is getting over the scourge of HIV epidemic.
According to Dr. Banigo, Governor Wike who is the Epidemic Control Surge Champion for Rivers State has demonstrated great passion and commitment in the quest to mitigate the spread of the virus in the State, noting that he was the first Governor in the Country to abolish user fees for People Living with HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Banigo further said “because of the Governor’s magnanimity our patients are doing very well and the issues of stigmatization of people living with HIV is reducing significantly”.
Dr. Banigo also said the Strategy of community testing and identification of positive cases into the neighbouring treatment facilities which is described as Sexual Network Tracing (SNT) has yielded great dividends.
The Deputy Governor urged citizens to take responsibility to remain healthy, stressing that the State Government has the political will and commitment to ensure the Rivers People enjoy quality health Care delivery that is comparable to the best in the world.
It would be recalled that the 1st of December each year has been set aside to celebrate World AIDs Day. The Theme for this year’s Celebration is “Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Resilience and Impact”.
