Sadiya Abubakar, 42, and her husband Shettim live in the Lafia community in Nasarawa state. In 2019, her husband, Mr Shettim was weighed down by an unknown sickness. During that period, Mrs Sadiya was a businesswoman selling food items at Lafia park.
Mr Shettim Abubakar didn’t recover from the illness despite several self-medications and visits to nearby pharmacists. The sickness persisted until the following year when he was taken to a nearby government hospital for proper treatment. On getting there, the health worker advised them to visit the state’s hospital to examine his condition.
In November 2020, he was taken to the state’s hospital where he was diagnosed with HIV, placed on drugs and told to come for regular checkups.
‘‘My husband before his demise was seriously sick. We spent a lot on drugs so he could survive but when we got to General Hospital, Nasarawa, we were told he tested positive for HIV. Being his wife, I was tested too but I was negative and that could have been as a result of my change of environment since I started my food business.’’
However, Mrs Asibi Omeri a retired civil servant at the Nasarawa State Ministry of Women Affairs and the founder of Source of Hope Foundation decided to lend a helping hand to the less privileged who have no access to public health treatment by providing them with adequate knowledge and services that will ease the burden and ensure that they are looked after.
According to her, people in the communities where the Source Of Hope outreach started lacked basic health knowledge, especially on HIV/AIDS. Most of them engage in self-medication which has done more harm than good to them. Also, they empowered both young and old to keep them busy.
‘‘Before the intervention of our foundation, residents did not have adequate knowledge of what HIV/AIDS was and how it can be cured or transmitted. My assistant and I had to go from one house to another to educate the people.
‘‘People started taking the issue seriously after some communities recorded deaths of their loved ones due to unknown health issues. To us, we were able to make findings”.
The foundation brought about free tests and programs to help reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and cases of teen pregnancy in Nasarawa communities.
For instance, Mrs Abdallah Hassan, a patient living with HIV who resides in Nasarawa, through the Source of Hope Foundation got a free transport allowance to receive free drugs at the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi.
‘‘Since I tested positive for HIV, there was no way I could go to the hospital due to fear of stigmatisation. The same result came out after the Source of Hope Foundation came for outreach and conducted the test for us. The team volunteered to sponsor my transportation whenever I was going to the hospital in Keffi after I told them I couldn’t afford the money.’’
Mission to Reduce HIV Prevalence in Nigeria
HIV remains a major global public health issue, having claimed an estimated 42.3 million lives to date. Transmission is ongoing in all countries globally.
According to the W.H.O., an estimated 39.9 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2023, 65% of whom are in the WHO African Region.
In 2023, an estimated 630,000 people died from HIV-related causes and an estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV.
As of 2021, 1.9 million people in Nigeria were infected with HIV. About 90 per cent of them were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Between 2010 and 2021, the share of people on ART grew consistently. Generally, the number of people living with HIV in Nigeria has been growing in the past years.
Approximately 260,000 children aged 0-14 years were living with HIV in Nigeria in 2015, with 41,000 new infections occurring among children, and only 17 percent of children living with HIV having access to antiretroviral therapy (ART).
In Nigeria, there are 1900 per 1000 people living with HIV. Out of this number, there are 1100 per 1000 female adults between the ages of 15 years and above who are currently living with HIV in Nigeria.
Also, there are 630 per 1000 male adults between 15 years and above who are living with HIV, while 170 per 1000 children between a day and 14 years are living with HIV in Nigeria.
Although there is no cure for HIV infection, with access to effective HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, including for opportunistic infections, HIV infection has become a manageable chronic health condition, enabling people living with HIV to lead long and healthy lives.
In 2018, a Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator & Impact Survey (NHIIS) showed that Nasarawa State, after Benue State, is the second highest state in the North-Central with a high HIV/AIDS prevalence in the region with 71.3% of cases.
The Source of Hope Foundation came into the limelight in 2019 to help populations in desperate need by supplying sustainable aid including food, water, health care and education to the vulnerable residing in rural areas who are mostly affected due to poor access to healthcare and information.
Also, the foundation aims to fund projects in countries with large impoverished populations, researching improved paradigms for delivering humanitarian aid. They also provide relief following catastrophic natural disasters, as well as aid to distressed populations in the United States.
A Transformative Initiative
The purpose of the initiative is to provide solutions to issues facing the vulnerable, especially in health and education, and provide opportunities for adults and youth through empowerment programs.
The foundation serves as the voice of the voiceless by collaborating with other Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Governmental agencies by advocating for a sustainable and healthy society.
For instance, Mr Bawa Idrisu, a Tuberculosis survivor and a beneficiary of the foundation explained how he has benefitted from the program despite his health challenges. He explained how he has been getting free drugs, and how empowered he became after he had attended several training sessions.
‘‘The foundation has been helpful because I no longer need to go to the hospital for my drugs. We have people come to give us free drugs and money sometimes. Also, my family and I have enjoyed free food service and other programs organised by mummy and her people.’’
Mrs Fatia Abdulsalem, a widow, who benefited from the Source of Hope women empowerment scheme, experienced a life-changing opportunity when the foundation gave her a grinding machine in 2022.
‘‘In 2022, I was part of the 25 widows that benefited from the empowerment program. We were given a grinding machine and a sum of ₦20,000 as a means of helping widows.’’
Also, residents of Keana local government benefited from the outreach program organised by the Source of Hope program to help the vulnerable living in the local government area.
Mission to Build Hope
To build hope among the less privileged people living in the Nasarawa state, Mrs Ogoshi joined the Source of Hope Foundation as a volunteer in 2019. Due to her level of commitment to the foundation, the founder employed her as one of the staff in the organisation.
“I joined voluntarily in 2019, and after I joined, my madam, who is the owner of the foundation, employed me as one of the staff. I currently work as her assistant where I sometimes act on her behalf when needed”.
Also, Godwin John, a 25-year-old graduate of Computer Science from the Nasarawa State University works as an ICT volunteer in the foundation. He doubles as the foundation’s photographer.
‘‘I have been volunteering since my undergraduate days since mummy brings people to empower members of my community at Kiana. Since then, I have shown interest in partaking in all kinds of activities to ensure people enjoy the service we provide.’’
Folorunsho Marvellous Darasimi, a graduate of Agricultural Science from the Nasarawa State University is a serial volunteer who works as a communications officer at the Source of Hope Foundation.
‘‘I’m passionate about helping people, especially the less privileged. I work with the team to cater for people at the grassroots level. Also, we have recorded many positive testimonies from our outreach.’’
Limitations
The Chief Executive Officer of Source of Hope Foundation, Mrs Omeri, narrated some of the challenges the foundation is facing. Despite the foundation’s effort to ensure that the health of the vulnerable people is catered for, there is less effort from the government side. Also, the fear of stigmatisation by people based on their past experiences in some of the health facilities is a major barrier as they see the foundation as an extension of those facilities.
‘‘The challenge we have is the fear of stigmatisation among the people and funding. We go the extra mile to ensure that the people are doing well. We provide healthcare services, sponsor education of the less privileged and advocate for equality. All these require funding which sometimes delays our work but the moment we partner with other like-minded people, we put smiles on our people’s faces.
Reducing HIV/AIDS in Nigeria
Dr Salem Alabi, Executive Secretary, Kwara State National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), advised on how HIV can be prevented and how carriers can be saved.
‘‘The spread of HIV and AIDS is both a threat and a challenge to development programs in developing countries. A person with HIV and AIDS can completely look okay, but deep down if such a person is not given adequate care, there is a high chance of him transmitting it around.
‘‘Also, the government should provide prompt health education for the general populace on how HIV which leads to AIDS can be prevented.’’
Yusuf Hassan Wada, a member of the International AIDS Society, says that certain factors are hindering people from knowing their HIV status. Factors such as financial disparities; unequal cultural, social and economic status; stigma and discrimination.
“Restricted social autonomy and gender inequality in education among women leads to zero or low access to sexual health services including testing for HIV. Unequal cultural, social and economic status in society has also meant they are unable to enquire and access those services in the community or hospitals and are unable to afford testing kits such as the self-test. They also face stigma and discrimination in asking for testing which further exacerbates inequality in HIV testing and undermines the response to the epidemic. Showing up for testing in our society acknowledges that a woman has been around somebody or been with somebody who could have the disease.
Wada proffered some solutions towards bridging the awareness gap between men and women. He opined that there should be gender equality in the assessment of HIV prevention and treatment measures. Also, gender violence against women should be curbed to encourage total participation in critical health issues.
This story was produced with the support of the Solutions Journalism Network and the Nigeria Health Watch.
Kafilat Taiwo is a data journalist and researcher at Dataphyte. She holds a degree in Mass Communication and a Diploma in Health Studies.
She focuses on gender reporting, health communication, solutions journalism, investigative reporting, and social accountability reporting to influence policy for developmental purposes.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @K_taiwoh
LinkedIn: Kafilat Taiwo
