Kano State Government on Tuesday commemorated the 2020 World AIDS Day with the empowerment of 250 people living with HIV/AIDS in the State to enable them become self-reliant, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The beneficiaries were given items that included sewing machines, footwear making machines and make-up kits, among others.
Speaking at the occasion, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje said the gesture was also meant to give them a sense of belonging, stressing the commitment of his administration to carry along people living with HIV/AIDS in the state.
Ganduje called on the public not to stigmatize them, while assuring of his administration’s readiness to partner with donor organisations to ensure that Kano people had more access to effective health care facilities.
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Earlier, in his address of welcome, the state’s Commissioner of Health, Aminu Ibrahim-Tsanyawa, said the beneficiaries would be trained and empowered with various entrepreneurial skills, explaining that the state government had spent over N600 million, in the past five years, to tackle the spread of HIV in the state.
He stated that the state government had also provided 448 Primary Health Care Centres across the 44 Local Government Areas of the state to provide the less privileged access to healthcare, including free treatment for HIV/AIDS.
In order to boost the provision of effective healthcare facilities in the state, Tsanyawa said government had earmarked 17 per cent of the 2021 budget proposal to the health sector.
According to Ibrahim-Tsanyawa, over 35,000 HIV/AIDS patients were currently receiving treatment in the state.