The theme of the partnership is “Shared Responsibility: Strengthening Results for an AIDS-Free Generation.‘
Public Affairs and Communications Director, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Clem Ugorji, at a meeting with stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS including Friends of Global Fund Africa and Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPLWHAN), in Lagos recently, said: ‘This year’s theme is a reminder that more needs to be done by all in the society to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS because we are all affected in one way or the other as we may have friends, family or neighbour living with the disease. Contd...
“HIV/AIDS is expensive not only to the individual but to the community as a whole. Every year the economy is losing so much from this illness, not only from the lost man hours from those who are infected but also because of the huge resources expended in taking care of PLWHA and for us at Coca-Cola this is something that is of tremendous concern to us.”
Ugorji said that Coca-Cola had been at the fore front of this fight through The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation which focused on prevention, awareness and treatment, by offering free, confidential voluntary counseling and testing.
He said that The Cola-Cola Africa Foundation’s partnership, aimed to support over 146,000 HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children across eight countries in Africa because of the foundations believed that health was key to hope and with hope, anything was possible.
Ugorji said that Coca-Cola partnered with Friends Africa to conduct free testing and Voluntary counseling centres at Campos Mini-Stadium, Lagos Island for members of the public. “Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) gives people the opportunity to know their HIV status. Knowing one is HIV negative can serve as a strong motivating factor to remain negative, and pursue a healthy and active lifestyle. VCT would also link people who test positive to options for treatment, care and support,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder Friends Africa, Dr. Akudo Ikemba, said that more needed be done to educate people on the availability of free drugs and support services.
Ikemba said: “Voluntary counseling and testing helps prevent new infections and empowers the individual by providing information and education about HIV/AIDS. There’s a lot of treatment available now due to private sector support and the next step is that we are focused on removing the stigma associated with the disease. Most times it is not the disease that kills but the stigma. So, we are taking a stand to fight stigmatisation.”
Coordinator of NEPHWAN, Ibrahim Umoru, said that he discovered his status 15 years ago in an era where there were no drugs, and he was buying one of his drugs for N21, 000 every month after collecting a salary of N17, 500. He said: “The impression then was that HIV/AIDS leads to death. The most dangerous thing for every society is a situation where individuals cannot open up about their sickness. The worst thing is for you to be ignorant of your status. We encourage people to get to know their status and do something about it. The earlier you know your status, the better chance you have to live a more productive life. It’s not just about creating awareness, we are trying to mobilise people and creating platforms where we can talk about the dangers of stigmatisation.”
Ugorji added: “We do not see this as CSR drive rather, it is a strategic investment and part of our business decisions. Communities in which we operate must also be healthy and prosperous. When we work in an environment, we believe that if our business must be prosperous, the communities we operate it, must also be healthy and prosperous. It does not involve money but it is about word-of-mouth advocacy. The people living with this disease have not done anything wrong. It could be anybody. We are living the values and walking the talk because we realise that our business is only as prosperous and as healthy as the communities we operate in.”
SourceL
Guardian
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