By Capital Watch Media
In a renewed effort to bolster public awareness and combat stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has entered into a strategic partnership with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).
During a courtesy visit by NACA to the NOA headquarters, the Director General of NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to enhancing national awareness campaigns on HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. He emphasized the critical role of public sensitization in achieving a stigma-free society.
Issa-Onilu highlighted NOA’s vast communication network, comprising 818 offices nationwide, including 774 local government offices. He noted that the agency will also leverage partnerships with 198 radio stations, 40 television stations across the six geopolitical zones, as well as its in-house TV and radio studios, animation resources, social media influencers, and print platforms such as The Explainer to drive the campaign.
Addressing the challenge of declining international funding particularly from the United States, the NOA Director General encouraged NACA to explore innovative, locally-driven strategies to explore innovative local strategies for sustainable intervention, assuring them of NOA’s relentless support in achieving their shared goal of a well-informed and stigma-free society.
Issa-Onilu further stressed that while fear-based communication was once effective in tackling the epidemic, there is a new approach to avert the stigma and misinformation, noting that HIV/AIDS should be seen as a manageable health condition like hypertension and diabetes, rather than a death sentence.
Speaking earlier, the Director General of NACA, Dr. Temitope Ilori, said that HIV/AIDS still remains a public health concerning particularly among the youths who underestimates its existence due to the success of the treatment programme which has reduce feasible cases of full-blown AIDS, underscoring the urgency of improving public awareness and behavioral change communication to counter misinformation and promote prevention.
She applauded NOA’s robust presence across the country and its effective use of traditional and social media for reaching out to all Nigeria, urging the agency to support NACA in spreading accurate information on HIV/AIDS preventions and treatment while actively combating stigma and discrimination.
While raising concerns on the growing influence of misinformation on social media, Ilori noted that there is need for Nigeria to take full ownership of its HIV response, strengthen collaborations with Governmental agencies like NOA, in ensuring sustainability and effective public enlightenment on the infectious disease.
