As part of measures to improve access to health care for all residents irrespective of their socio-economic status, the Ogun State government has commissioned a new fully-equipped comprehensive healthcare facility.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker during the official commissioning of the facility within the premises of the Ogun State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA) in Abeokuta said the feat was jointly facilitated by the government and one of its implementing partners, APIN Public Health Initiative.
Coker said the One-Stop facility will provide comprehensive services for a Key Population and people in prisons and other enclosed settings under one roof.
Represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. Tayo Lawal, the Commissioner described the KPs as vulnerable and disproportionately affected by HIV due to risk behaviors, marginalization, and structural factors like stigma, discrimination, violence, human right violations, and criminalization, all of which contribute to a lack of access to health services.
She noted that APIN’s ventured into the State since 2018 had seen an increase in the number of People Living with HIV receiving treatment, assuring that the One Stop-shop would effectively reduce the barriers to retention, adherence to treatment and provide comprehensive services that meet the diverse needs of KPs.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Ogun SACA, Dr. Kehinde Fatungase disclosed that 65% of new cases had been discovered and placed on Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) in the State.
He expressed his Agency’s collaboration with APIN as robust and productive, adding that the implementing partner had been a supporting pillar for the State’s HIV/AIDS control in the State.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer, APIN, Dr. Prosper Okonkwo, who was represented by the Associate Director, Community and Prevention Services, Dr. Olabanjo Ogunsola, urged the government to consider replicating the One-stop facility in other strategic points in the State, saying this would help to further provide access to care for people in the remote areas of the State.
Okonkwo promised that his organization’s presence would continue as implementing partner in the control of HIV/AIDS in the State for the next five years.
