Paul Obi in Abuja
The United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) agency, Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) and the federal government on Thursday unveiled a global health security targeting about 27 million people within the Abidjan – Lagos corridor, made up of Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Cote d’ Ivorie and Benin Republic.
Declaring open the first annual statutory meeting of the Abidjan – Lagos Corridor Organisation (ALCO) Governing Board, Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said stakeholders are primarily concerned about tackling issues of health security, transport, HIV/AIDS and other socioeconomic challenges.
The minister represented by Dr Segilola Araoye, explained: “Abidjan – Lagos Corridor is about 1,022 kilometres across the following five countries: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Every year, about 27 million passengers, including many traders and 140,000 truckers, use this road and ports.
“The impact of HIV/AIDS, especially in the African region, is exacerbated by socioeconomic and cultural factors while effecting control has been challenging because of weak health systems,” Adewole stressed.
The minister further stated: “The Abidjan – Lagos Corridor handles 65% of economic activity in the region, thus the importance of establishing and sustaining interventions in the corridor project cannot be overemphasised.”
Further Details Later
