By Abdallah el-Kurebe
Volunteers in the fight against HIV/AIDs in Sokoto state have been honoured by Sokoto State government.
The volunteers include trackers, data entry clerks, testing and counselling officers who worked with the USAID-backed Management Sciences for Health (MSH), an NGO for a one-year contract that ended this year.
Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Buhari Bello Kware presented them with certificates of award at a ceremony in Sokoto on Monday.
The commissioner stated that HIV/AIDs still posed threat to lives even with the emergence of Ebola.
Advising stakeholders not to relent in their effort to contain the spread of HIV/AIDs, the commissioner further stressed the importance “of tracking absconded patients and reaching out to those in dire need of medical assistance.”
MSH Team Leader, Dr. Ibrahim Suleiman said that the volunteers had contained the spread of the disease to a great extent during their stay in Sokoto.
“They supported 10 medical facilities in seven local governments of the state among which were the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital and the state’s Specialist Hospital,” he said.
