The Senate has on Wednesday called on Private Sector in Nigeria to co-fund HIV/AIDS interventions through partnership with government.

This resolution was reached among others by the Senate after considering a motion on “World Aids Day” sponsored by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North).

The Senate also urged the Federal Government to ensure adequate funding of the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) for the fight against and to control the spread of the HIV/AIDS in the country.

Debating the motion, Utazi, who was worried about sustaining the fight against HIV/AIDS after international funding partners pulled out of Nigeria, said it’s imperative for private sector to get involve in raising needed funds to support government at the Federal, States and local government levels.

The lawmaker, who brought forward his motion through orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules, said there are fears in the HIV community that intervention funders may leave Nigeria soon for places where the deadly virus is yet to be kept at bay.

The lawmaker stated that such fears were as a result of the outcome of the report of the National HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari in March, this year, which showed that prevalence of the virus in Nigeria dropped from 2.8 percent to 1.4 percent among adults aged 15-49 years.

According to Utazi, out of the 1.9 million people living with HIV in Nigeria, over a million of them are currently accessing treatment to achieve viral suppression.

He added, “With the appreciable control of this epidemic and the increasing expectation of further shrinking, the usual funding from foreign donors will equally shrink leaving Nigeria to battle in funding the management and care of people living with HIV.”

The Senate also appealed to Nigerians not to stigmatize and discriminate against persons living with the virus, as well as advised all adults to know their HIV status by going for screening.