The HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria (HTFN) has released a statement saying that the stage is set for the launch of the private sector-led N62.1bn ($150m) HIV Trust Fund.
Recommended by Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of AIDS and driven by the Nigeria Business Coalition Against AIDS, the HTFN is a sustainable financing mechanism for the mobilization and deployment of domestic private sector resources towards the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Nigeria.
It was said that the HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria will improve efforts towards ensuring the coverage of high-impact HIV interventions that would provide the required treatment for HIV-positive mothers while also contributing towards closing the funding gap for HIV in Nigeria which was put at about $108m per annum.
The Trust Fund’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Jekwu Ozoemene, described the HTFN as critical to helping Nigeria achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 strategy of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, among other objectives.
The fund is currently chaired by the Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Dr. Herbert Wigwe. Other Board of Trustees members include the Managing Director of TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria, Mr. Mike Sangster; the President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; and the MD, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor.
