Burkina Faso: The Fight Against AIDs and STIs in Burkina: Over 115 million FCA Mobilised

By Sougrinoma Inocent Ilboudo, Burkina Faso

Captain Martha Céleste Anderson Dekomwin Medah, Director of the Cabinet of the President of Burkina Faso, presided over a ceremony early Monday afternoon at which the National Council for the Fight against AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (CNLS-IST) presented cheques to four organizations for actions to combat and raise awareness of AIDS.

The Ministerial AIDS Committees of the Ministries of Defense and National Education, as well as Action citoyenne et Communautaire pour la resilience et le development (ACCORD) and the Conseil national de l’économie informelle, received financial support from CNLS-IST, worth a total of 115,529,569 FCFA.

These structures received their cheques from Martha Céleste Anderson Dekomwin MEDAH, Director of Cabinet of the President of Faso, representing the President of Faso, Chairman of CNLS-IST.

The funds are distributed as follows: 28,311,500 FCFA for ACCORD, 33,815,944 FCFA for the Ministerial Committee for the Fight against AIDS of the Ministry of Defense, 20,000,000 FCFA for the Ministerial Committee for the Fight against AIDS of the Ministry of Education and 33,402,125 FCFA for the National Council for the Informal Economy.

“The aim of this support is to encourage these players, and all those involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, to redouble their efforts in view of certain factors arising from the security situation,” said Captain MEDAH.

He called on all those involved to step up their awareness-raising campaigns aimed at young people, through screening and support for all those receiving treatment, so that the prevalence rate can be significantly reduced.

According to CNLS-IST Permanent Secretary Dr Seydou OUATTARA, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Burkina Faso is around 0.5%. However, he pointed out that specific groups are more exposed to HIV/AIDS. For him, the mission of the four structures is to “carry out prevention and promotion activities in the fight against HIV/AIDS for the defense and security forces, adolescents in schools and the informal economy, internally displaced persons and truck drivers”.

The beneficiaries’ representative, Intendant Colonel-major Jean Baptiste PARKOUDA, Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense and Veterans, expressed his gratitude to the President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim TRAORE, President of CNLS-IST. “It is appropriate to salute this financial support for its true value. On behalf of the beneficiary structures, we pledge to make the best possible use of this financial support”, he said, according to the fight against AIDS and STIs in Burkina: over 115 million FCA mobilized