……in Bali, Sardauna LGAs
A group, Society for Family Health (SFH)’s Lafiyan Yara project, in partnership with Taraba State Government, empowered 87 indigent persons affected by HIV/AIDS through Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) training and cash support in Bali and Sardauna local government areas of the state.
The Director of SFH’s Lafiyan Yara project, Aisha Dadi, disclosed this at a news conference in Jalingo on Thursday.
Dadi said that the two-day training in Bali and Gembu brought together beneficiaries carefully selected using treatment outcomes of their children in health facilities where they access Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART).
She added that N70,000 cash transfer was sent to each of the 87 beneficiaries as seed grant, after the team had assessed viability of business plans they submitted to ensure growth and sustainability.
“The two-day training, which took place in Medical and Health Care Hall, Bali, and Mambilla Baptist Hospital Hall, Gembu, empowered indigent parents and caregivers of children living with HIV in the state.
“This initiative is aimed at addressing critical issues such as missed appointments for ART, medication pick-up and refills among children living with HIV due to lack of funds for transportation or nutrition challenge among children enrolled into ART, which often leads to suboptimal adherence and unsuppressed viral loads.”
She explained that the training, conducted by the project team and the state’s Ministry of Health – State AIDS and STI Control Programme (SASCP), educated indigent members of the community on details of VSLA.
She said “some of the details include methodology of VSLA, constitution formation, formation of business strategy, management of funds to improve business capital and profit, savings and collection of loans, among others.”
She recalled that the project had earlier empowered 60 from Jalingo, Zing, Gassol and Wukari local government areas.
