FULafia joins Nasarawa State to celebrate World AIDS Day 2024

The Federal University of Lafia (FULafia), recently, was engaged in an exercise with stakeholders within and outside Nasarawa State to celebrate the World AIDS Day 2024.

The event, themed: “Take the Right Part,” aimed to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and promote community health.

FULafia’s participation in the exercise was coordinated by the Centre for Local Economic Development (CLED) and the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine.

The University’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Shehu Abdul Rahman, was represented at the event by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Partnerships, Prof. Usman Sama’ila Dakyes.

In his remarks, Abdul Rahman highlighted the importance of eliminating the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS disease.

He said that FULafia’s participation in the World AIDS Day celebration demonstrated the University’s commitment to public health education and fostering partnerships with other agencies to tackle health challenges.

He praised the Nasarawa State Government for promoting the health concerns of its citizens through regular sensitisation programmes.

In her remarks, the Executive Director, Nasarawa State AIDS Control Agency (NASACA), Dr. Ruth Nabe-Bello, emphasised the need to eradicate HIV/AIDS in our communities and honour those who have lost their lives to the dreaded virus.

She said that over 2,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS have been recorded in the state, urging those infected to enroll in health insurance scheme offered by the state government.

The event featured goodwill messages from various agencies.

The event kicked-off with a road walk from the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health to the NASACA office.

The exercise aimed to draw attention to the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS and importance of community participation in the fight.