Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has abolished the payments of user-fees for persons living with HIV/AIDS who want to access to treatment at state-owned health facilities.
Mr Wike announced the removal of the fees on Wednesday during a courtesy visit by an American delegation from the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention under the auspices of the Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
Wike said the government would take over the payment of the user-fees to encourage more Rivers people to seek treatment for HIV/AIDS.
“We will stop all fees collected as user-fees for persons under the HIV/AIDS Treatment Programme. This is our contribution to the partnership with the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We will take over the payment of the HIV/AIDS user-fees for the public health facilities in the state.
“The deputy governor will be in charge of the programme since she is a medical doctor. We are committed to working with the United States Government to ensure we tackle this disease,” he said.
Head of the US delegation, Tedd Ellerbrock, said that 210, 000 persons are currently infected with HIV/AIDS in Rivers, with 40, 000 currently on anti-retroviral treatment.
He said that the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention was launching a new programme where 110,000 infected persons will be placed on anti-retroviral treatment to stem the spread of the disease and control the epidemic.
