WBF POSITIVE LIFELINE

THE POSITIVE LIFELINE PROGRAMME:

After her husband was elected Governor, Her Excellency, Mrs. Saraki noticed that there was no identifiable source of care and support for people living with HIV in the state. Although there were trickles of efforts here and there, she wanted an organised forum that would give hope to the already infected, encourage their families, friends and associates to support them and cut off the source of infection by providing people with information on HIV/AIDS.

WHAT IT DOES:

The Positive Lifeline Programme works in the following ways:

• It runs a confidential counseling and support unit where clients walk into and voice their fears.
• It works with doctors at the University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin who engage in client diagnoses, prescriptions and treatment.
• It pays for laboratory tests and investigations.
• It purchases drugs.
• It ensures they undergo necessary further examinations and follow doctors’ counsel on drugs and diet.
• It provides immune boosters and anti retroviral drugs.
• It places needy clients on a monthly up- keep allowance.
• It provides financial empowerment.
• Special attention is given to infected pregnant women and all efforts are made at seeing that they give birth to non-infected children.
• It finances Caesarian Sections.
• It provides Infant formula and drugs.
• Pediatric clients are also taken on.
• Orphans and vulnerable children are given medical attention and scholarships.
• It has raised an army of peer educators in secondary and tertiary institutions in the state to curb the incidence of infections among youth.
• Regular state- wide sensitization campaigns against HIV are organised among the general populace.

WHO IT SERVES:

• People living with HIV
• Pregnant women living with HIV
• Orphans and Vulnerable Children
• Men, women and youth
• Children of Secondary School age

NUMBER OF PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN REACHED:

Hundreds of thousands of Kwarans have been reached in our various drives to rid Kwara of new infections.

• About 400 people receive treatment and ongoing care and support from the Alaafia Kwara Positive Lifeline Programme encompassing the free provision of anti retroviral drugs, food supplements and appropriate diets for the patients.
• 45 Orphans and Vulnerable Children receive financial assistance for their education and upkeep.
• 400 peer educators have been raised in secondary schools all over the state as a means of stemming further infections. These educators are equipped with ICT materials with which they affect the lives of others in their communities.
• A crop of women leaders have also been raised all over the state to encourage women and men to steer clear of habits and conditions which predispose them to HIV.

The Alaafia Kwara Positive Lifeline Programme was set up by Her Excellency, Mrs. Toyin Saraki to bring hope and meaning into the lives of HIV infected persons in the state as well as curbing the further spread of the disease especially among the youth.

Through the initiative, the health of positive persons in the state has improved tremendously; they have overcome the fear of stigma and discrimination, have accepted their status as a challenge and have come to accept the fact that help is attainable if they are bold to declare their status.

THE RESOURCE ACCESS UNIT/ HEALTH POINT:

One of the dreams of Her Excellency is to bring cheap and affordable if not free health care to all the citizens of Kwara State. This dream was recently realized when in collaboration with Hygeia Nigeria Limited and the Dutch Health Insurance Fund, Alaafia Kwara accomplished its first Resource Access Unit/Health Point at Bacita Junction in the Moro Local Government Area of the state. This well- equipped and ultra modern health facility caters for the health needs of thousands of people from twenty- five communities around the area. It is a facility that does not only provide health care but also access to sundries like micro finance. It is equipped with internet facilities and a post office which link these communities to the outside world.

Her Excellency’s dream is to replicate this facility in every local government in the state!

Although the health of the people of Kwara State is paramount to the First Lady and her non- governmental organization, she believes in creating a complete civil society where citizens are empowered to actualize themselves. Alaafia Kwara therefore works in other areas. These include: