Usman Ziko, 47, is the Chairman of Network of Persons Living with HIV and AIDS (NEPWAN) in Bauchi State. Though living with HIV, Mr Ziko is happily married and blessed with four healthy children, who are HIV-free.
His circumstance, no doubt, has been helped by the activities of the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Malaria (BACATMA). Through an initiative, the agency encourages the marriage of persons living with HIV.
The agency says it aims to curtail the spread of the HIV virus to non-infected persons, while reducing the risks of mother-to-child transmission of the virus during pregnancy and childbirth.
BACATMA’s official records show that more than 160 marriages had been sponsored by the agency in the last one year, just as over 100 couples have had children who are free from HIV and AIDS.
Mr Ziko acknowledges that BACATMA’s initiative has been effective in curbing the spread of HIV and AIDS, thus saving many lives and restoring hope to many families.
“I tested positive to HIV eleven years ago, but my parents didn’t let me know,” he said. “I discovered my status only when I and my fiancée went to the hospital to ascertain our status. I had wondered if I could ever get married without any medical problem.
“Initially, I felt it was the end of the road for me but I was consoled by the fact that life belonged to God. To God be the glory that BACATMA sponsored my marriage. They paid my dowry and gave me some money to purchase some house property and, today, I am a happy man.” By this man’s personal assessment, the match-making initiative in Bauchi state may have reduced the prevalence of the deadly virus in the state by as much as 50 percent.
Besides running the affairs of NEPWAN, Mr Ziko enjoys a substantive appointment as a HIV Counsellor at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.
He advocates compulsory HIV testing for all couples as part of measures to reduce the spread of the disease in the state.
“We hope to persuade the Bauchi State Government, through the State Sharia Commission, to sponsor a bill at the state House of Assembly, which will make it compulsory for prospective couples to undergo HIV test before marriage,” he said.
He also said that the bill will seek to encourage carriers of the virus to marry only themselves, adding that he feels grieved anytime he sees carriers attempting to marry non-carriers.
Observers say that the efforts by the Bauchi State government to check the spread of HIV and AIDS have been remarkable, which perhaps explains the collaborative efforts between the World Bank, the Global HIV Initiative (GHAIN) and other development partners to establish over 30 Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centres in the state.
In specific terms, BACATMA says it has established over 35 HIV support groups and two other offices of the Local Action Committee on AIDS (LACA) in parts of the state, with over N80 million allocated to NGOs and Community-based Organisations involved in HIV-AIDS activities.
“We have provided HIV test kits to hospitals; free ART drugs and food supplements to persons living with HIV in the state,” Rilwanu Mohammed, the immediate past executive chairman of BACTMA said.
The Association of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Nigeria (AONN), has also made some input in addressing the HIV-AIDS scourge in the state, as it is presently collaborating with the state government in the rehabilitation of over 200 orphans and vulnerable children under the Global Fund Implementation Programme.
Also, the Bauchi government has earmarkedN1.2 billion for HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria activities in the state for this fiscal year.
Mohammed Mohammed, Director of Administration and Finance at BACATMA, said Bauchi state prides itself as the first state in Nigeria to promote marriage among people living with HIV.
According to him, the agency assists children from such marriages in their educational pursuits, while their parents are also assisted to get jobs, so as to ensure their sustenance.
“We want them to have a sense of belonging in the community, just like any other person,” he said.
Mr Mohammed reiterates the desire of his agency to collaborate with organizations that are involved in efforts to control HIV-AIDS in the state.
Notwithstanding the gains in the fight against HIV-AIDS in Bauchi, Mr Ziko wants more Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centres to be established in the rural areas of the state to enhance HIV treatment.
“Such centres will enhance access to quality treatment, care and support services to persons suffering from the disease in rural areas, as well as check the rampant transmission of the disease, to invariably reduce the number of children orphaned by it,” he said.
“More and more people are testing positive to HIV in both urban and rural areas and majority of them do not have the means to travel to ART centres in the cities for medication. We call on international donor agencies to assist in the establishment of adequate ART centres in the rural areas, while the state government should provide free food supplements to HIV-positive breastfeeding mothers.”