Connect with us

Headline

Nigeria Gets $933m Grant To Fight HIV, Malaria

Published

on

The Global Fund’s Grant Cycle 7 has allocated $933m to Nigeria to address HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria from 2024 to 2026.

Of this, $340,095,438 is dedicated to the HIV grant, with the National  Agency for the Control of AIDS receiving $10,663,394 to lead the coordination of the multisectoral response to HIV.

NACA made this known on Friday in a press statement signed by its Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Toyin Aderibigbe.

Advertisement

To kick off the GC7 grant, the statement noted that a four-day retreat was held for the newly formed Project Monitoring Unit.

READ ALSO: WHO Advocates Ban On Tobacco Use In Nigeria

The retreat was designed to familiarise the new team members with their roles, reflect on past successes, identify areas for improvement, and discuss actionable strategies for future endeavours.

Advertisement

In her welcome remark, the Director General of NACA, Dr Temitope Ilori, highlighted the significant accomplishments of the GC6 grant.

Ilori said these accomplishments include training healthcare personnel, equipping laboratories, and meaningfully engaging communities.

She urged participants to build on these successes in tackling HIV challenges.

Advertisement

READ ALSO: Woman Bags Six Months Jail For Hawking Naira Notes

“While we celebrate these remarkable achievements, we must task ourselves to  improve upon our past efforts by being efficient and intentional in  sustainably addressing the public health challenges of HIV through the use of reliable data for effective decision-making.” Dr Ilori stated.

The notable activities under the GC7 include the scale-up of HIV and TB  Gender and Human Rights interventions both at the national and sub-national levels; the development of 36+1 states’ strategic plans leveraging the HIV National Strategic Plan 2023-2027; the implementation of medically assisted treatment among persons who inject drugs using methadone or buprenorphine; the improvement of HIV coordination at the sub-national levels through direct support to State Agencies for the  Control of AIDS; and the conduct of HIV Integrated Biological and  Behavioural Surveillance Survey 2024.

Advertisement

Dr Ilori said, “My vision for the HIV response under my leadership is to  foster a domestically driven HIV response that ends AIDS and its  associated conditions as a public health threat in an effective,  efficient, and sustainable manner.”

READ ALSO: Why I Stayed Out Of Marriage For 12 Years – Segun Arinze

She urged everyone to join the journey toward this shared goal of greatness.

Advertisement

“I urge you to reflect on how our work can ensure that we eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in collaboration with the National  HIV, Hepatitis, and STI Control Programme.

“Contribute meaningfully to the sector-wide approach of the Ministry of  Health, further strengthen the health response to become more resilient and sustainable, ensure that we can respond to any public health emergency, and end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030,” she said.

Advertisement

Headline

US Lifts Restrictions On Visa Validity For Ghanaians, Leaves Nigeria’s Unchanged

Published

on

The United States has restored the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaian nationals following Ghana’s agreement to accept West African deportees, but similar restrictions for Nigerians remain in place.

The B1/B2 visitor visa is now valid for up to five years, with multiple entries allowed, while the F1 student visa’s maximum validity has been restored to four years, with multiple entries permitted.

“The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaians have been restored to their previous lengths. The maximum validity allowed for the B1/B2 visitor visa is again five years, multiple entry. The maximum validity for the F1 student visa is again four years, multiple entry,” the U.S. Embassy announced in a tweet on Saturday.”

Advertisement

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, also announced in a tweet that the new policy now allows citizens to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas.

READ ALSO:Japan Scraps ‘Africa Hometown’ Project After Visa Confusion

Ablakwa also stated that the reversal of the restriction comes with other enhanced consular privileges, adding that the development was the result of months of diplomatic engagement.

Advertisement

The U.S. visa restriction imposed on Ghana has been reversed. Ghanaians can now be eligible for five-year multiple-entry visas and other enhanced consular privileges,” Ablakwa stated.

This good news was directly communicated to me by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, at a bilateral meeting earlier today, in the margins of the UN General Assembly. I am really pleased that months of high-level diplomatic negotiations have led to a successful outcome.”

These changes reverse earlier restrictions imposed under the Trump administration, which had limited most visas to single-entry and a three-month validity period.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:H-1B Visas: Trump To Impose $100,000 Annual Fee For Skilled Foreign Workers

The restrictions affected several African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, and were based on concerns over visa reciprocity and the acceptance of deported migrants.

In July, the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria announced updates to its reciprocal nonimmigrant visa policy, stating: “The United States Department of State has announced updates to its reciprocal non-immigrant visa policy, impacting several countries, including Nigeria. Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.

Advertisement

“Those U.S. non-immigrant visas issued prior to July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity. We wish to underscore that, as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity. You can view the latest information on visa reciprocity schedules for all countries at travel.state.gov.”

Reports indicate that the U.S. pressured some African nations to accept deported migrants, including Venezuelan detainees from U.S. prisons.

READ ALSO:US Defends New Social Media Vetting For Nigerian Visa Applicants

Advertisement

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar rejected these pressures, stating that Nigeria would not serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.

It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” Tuggar said during a televised interview.

We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria. We already have 230 million people.”

Advertisement

Meanwhile, Ghanaian President John Mahama confirmed that Ghana had begun accepting deported West African nationals after U.S. requests.

We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.

All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country.”

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

on

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Advertisement

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

READ ALSO:UK Set To Announce Recognition Of Palestinian State

Advertisement

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

Advertisement

These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

READ ALSO:Kenya Court Seeks UK Citizen’s Arrest Over Mother’s Murder

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

Advertisement

They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

on

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

READ ALSO:PICTORIAL: NDLEA Intercepts Cocaine, Opioid Shipments Meant For US, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Poland

Advertisement

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

Advertisement

 

Continue Reading

Trending