By Murtala Ahmed Mustapha
A non-governmental organisation, Alayahbi Women and Children’s Health and Home Care, has distributed food items to women living with HIV and AIDS in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The intervention is aimed at cushioning the effects of economic hardship on vulnerable groups, particularly people living with HIV and AIDS in the area.
The Executive Director of the NGO, Hajiya Binta Abdulkarim, said the food items were part of farm produce harvested under the organisation’s agricultural extension programme over the past two years.
She explained that the initiative was designed to support women living with HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and to provide relief as well as improve their overall wellbeing.
Hajiya Binta Abdulkarim noted that the distributed food items were carefully selected for their nutritional value to help enhance immune systems of the beneficiaries.
She noted that the organisation’s core objective was to improve the lives of women and children through access to healthcare services and sustainable agricultural practices.
According to her, plans are underway to engage women living with HIV and AIDS in farming activities during the next rainy season, while appealing to the Ganjuwa Local Government Council to provide farmland to support the programme.
In a remark, the Prevention Officer for HIV and AIDS at the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Malaria, BACATMA, Malam Aliyu Muhammad Usman, said the gesture conforms with the agency’s nutritional support initiatives for people living with HIV and AIDS.
He disclosed that BACATMA had enrolled over one thousand people living with HIV and AIDS into the Bauchi State Health Contributory Management Scheme to improve their access to healthcare.
Also speaking, the former Chairman of the Ganjuwa Local Government Ward Development Committee, Alhaji Abdullahi Lawal, commended Alayahbi Women and Children’s Health and Home Care for choosing Ganjuwa LGA to benefit and pledged community support towards achieving the project’s objectives.
Items distributed included rice, maize, guinea corn, instant noodles and spaghetti.
