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From Dooshima Terkura, Makurdi
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) said the foundation, through its Girls Act program, has empowered girls and young women in nearly 40 countries with the knowledge, support, and resources to remain free from HIV and other STIs.
The foundation said it has also supported them to adhere to treatment for girls living with HIV, stay in school, and avoid unplanned pregnancies.
The Nigeria Country Programmes Director of AHF, Dr Echey Ijezie has threrfore called for supportive policies that would expand access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health services for adolescent girls and young women across the country.
Ijezie also called for increased investment in the prevention, testing and treatment programs for the Human Immuno Virus and Sexually Transmitted Infection (HIV/STI) as well as comprehensive sexuality education, revealing that over 4000 young women aged 15-24 are being infected with HIV weekly with more than 3,300 of those cases in sub-saharan African.
The Country Programmes Director who spoke during the commemoration of the 2025 International Day of the Girl Child at Community Commercial Secondary School, Ikot Oku, Ubo, Offot, Uyo, themed “The girl I am, the change I lead: Girls on the frontline of crisis.”
Ijezie who stated that the event was aimed at protecting girls from HIV, honour their achievements, and reinforce the urgent need to expand opportunities for them to thrive and stay healthy, said young girls still face challenges of poor menstrual health and limited access to reproductive health services.
He therefore called for actions to address period poverty, promote comprehensive sexuality education, and combat gender-based violence and child marriage which he termed as key drivers to health inequality.
A statement signed by the Advocacy and Marketing Manager, Steve Aborishade and made available to the Sun in Makurdi on Saturday quoted the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare in Akwa Ibom, Hon. Silas Etukudo saying despite the challenges girls face in the state, they are still breaking barriers in all their endeavours demonstrating that crises do not define them; instead, they shape solutions.
Etikudor promised to create opportunities where their voices and ideas would be heard, their leadership nurtured, and their potentials unleashed even as she revealed that the state was working towards securing funding and programs that would empower girls-from scholarships to health initiatives.
The State Cordinator of AHF, Dr. Ekemini Essien, observed that girls all over the world are disproportionately affected by HIV AIDS and faced with a lot of abuse with very little opportunities unlike their male counterparts.
He urged authorities to as a matter of urgency address the issue by empowering girls with neccessary tools, knowledge and skills to excel just as he encouraged the girls to be resilient and focused for a secured future.
On her part, Jessica Charles, the linkage Cordinator of AHF in the state harped on the need for a girl-child empowerment saying empowerment must not be economic, but in terms of access to right information, healthcare, education and taking decisions. She charged the girls to always stand tall and speak up against any form of abuse
“This is not the time when you should be shy about how you feel about your reproductive health. Speak up against any abuse. I know a lot of girls are abused, and their parents are covering up, please speak up, because there will always be somebody out there who wants to champion your cause.” She admonished.
One of the participants, Rhoda Vincent thanked AHF for identifying with the girl child and empowering them especially in Sexual Health Right and gender equality.
AHF distributed disposable and reusable sanitary pads, toiletries to he girls
