By Asma’u Ahmad
The Kano State Agency for the Control of AIDS (KSACA) is collaborating with Kano Hisbah Board to sponsor a bill that will compel prospective couples to undergo HIV screening before marriage. Public Relations Officer (PRO) of KSACA, Malam Usman Gwadabe said this in a statement in Kano on Friday.
Malam Gwadabe said that the agency’s Director-General, Dr. Bashir Usman, said this when the agency’s management paid a courtesy call on Hisbah Board. He said when the bill is drafted; the two organizations would jointly submit it to the State House of Assembly through the state Ministry of Health for enactment as a law in the state.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje
Malam Usman said that the bill when it becomes law would compel intending couples to go for sickle cell and hepatitis screenings before marriage. He said these would safe many lives and protect several marriages from
collapse.
He told the board that the agency had begun to collaborate with many partners on the crusade. “These partners have to be carried along in addressing key populations and risky behaviours among the citizenry,” Usman said.
He said the agency would organise training for Hisbah paramedical staff to enable them acquire basic techniques of HIV Testing and Counselling (HTC). He congratulated the board on the success of the last mass wedding it organized, especially, as it was able to identify and support y people who were HIV positive.
The Director-General of the board, Dr. Sufi, in his response said that the board was ready to collaborate with KSACA to address the menace. Dr. Sufi said that the increase in HIV patients in the state should be addressed by relevant agencies. He promised that the existing cordial relationships between KSACA and the board would be maintained.
