The sudden seizure of funds to fight HIV/AIDS following the U.S. recent policy on foreign aid will erode all achievements and put young Nigerians at risk, an expert has said.

Nandul Durfa, managing director of Reach Care Foundation, an HIV/AIDS  care-giver outfit, stated on Sunday in Abuja, that the federal government must “fully fund” the services to avoid a relapse to the past gory days of the scourge.

Mr Durfa was reacting to a letter from the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, informing his outfit of the termination of the agreement to fund the services.

In the letter signed by Patrick Dakum, the institute’s CEO, the institute said that “due to prevailing funding constraints”, the organisation is  “compelled to terminate all contracts currently in force” with all respective organisations.

It said that the termination shall take effect immediately.

Several non-governmental organisations and other corporate outfits engaged in HIV/AIDS activities have shut down following a new  U.S. policy halting foreign aid.

The institute had been a beneficiary of U.S. foreign aid routed through the United States Agency for International Development.

There has been a severe threat to global health since the U.S. froze overseas aid following the dismantling of USAID, which distributes tens of billions of dollars in aid each year. The U.S. also announced cuts to the agency’s workforce and the immediate suspension of almost all its aid projects and programmes.

With the collapse of its  funding base, the virology institute has thus stopped funding all HIV/AIDS services, a situation that has thrown the caregivers into confusion.

Mr Durfa, while expressing regret that the USAID had been dismantled, recalled that the HIV/AIDS scourge was a major concern about 20 years ago.

“The scourge was deadly and claimed many lives. As the then-chief medical director of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, I recall we had more than 7,000 victims at one point. The U.S., through USAID and its programmes,  helped us a lot. Nigeria reduced incidents to almost zero, and we were mopping up everything.

“But, with the decision to stop the funding, the outcome is obvious, Nigeria will relapse to a worse epidemic later if no urgent measures are taken by the federal government. The government must step into this gap to avoid a resurgence of the disease,” stated Mr Durga. “Young boys, those less than 20 years, never experienced the HIV/AIDS scourge, let alone take measures to minimise the epidemic. If you stop the funding without killing the virus, the existing virus will develop resistance. Even if the funds come later, a lot of ground would have been lost.”

Mr Durfa said that the policy reversing the funding of the services would reverse achievements recorded from 2005 to date. He said that the government must provide sufficient funds to procure Anti-Retroviral Drugs, pointing out that any delay would be “very dangerous”.

(NAN)