Togo needs $10 million in annual support for vulnerable HIV and TB patients

Health

Monday, 05 June 2023 16:57

Togo needs $10 million in annual support for vulnerable HIV and TB patients

(Togo First) - Togo needs about $10 million per year to finance a project that supports people living with HIV (PLHIV) and tuberculosis (TB) patients.

The amount was disclosed in a study ordered by the Permanent Secretariat of the National Council for the Fight Against AIDS (CNLS). The study report was validated on Friday, June 2, in Lomé, during a workshop organized in collaboration with UNAIDS and the World Food Program (WFP).

The report evaluates the feasibility and cost of the project. "It will first be a resource mobilization document, an advocacy document that could be presented to traditional partners," said Damien Amoussou, president of the study’s steering committee.

Approximately 75% of TB patients and PLHIV are considered vulnerable. To integrate them into a national social protection system, just over $10 million each year would be needed to support them, stated Agossou K. Kokou, a National Consultant, presenting the study results.

For now, the project is expected to initially last three years and cost $30 million.

While the study primarily focused on the Maritime and Plateaux regions, considered to have the highest HIV prevalence, the initiative covers the entire territory. In these two regions alone, over 29,000 PLHIV have been identified out of an estimated total of 80,000 across the country.

In addition to traditional partners, actors in the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis plan to mobilize international support, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The Fund has already announced financing of CFA74 billion for the period 2023-2025.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

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