Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS(OYSACA) ignored research and documents in its 2021 budget;Instead, the agency budgeted ₦3m for Fair and Festival;This action shows a gross misplacement of priorities and lack of foresight on the health agency’s part to use research to eradicate HIV/AIDS in the state;Failure to spend on research is an invitation to HIV/AIDS pandemic, an expert claimed.
Why spend ₦ 6.5 million on HIV/AIDS research, when you can party away the virus? The Oyo State Agency for Control of AIDS (OYSACA), chaired by the state Governor’s wife, Tamunominni Makinde chose the latter, budgeting the sum for ‘fun and games’. In contrast, the appropriation bill set aside zilch for research and documentation.
All work and no play… but when you displace the former, it raises questions on an agency’s priorities. Are they in order? The actions are reminiscent of the Ministry of Defence who set “owambe funds” almost three times more than its allocation for research and development. But at least R&D got a share, albeit minute.
In the case of OYSACA, it allocated nothing to research. This omission can only mean two things: one, the agency has managed the HIV/AIDS incidences to a level where they no longer need new research. But we know 41% of Oyo residents live with HIV according to Avert. Thus, a low prevalence cannot be the case, leading to the second point: OYSACA is negligent in its duties with glaring misplaced priorities.
OYSACA’s negligence: a recurring trend
To that end, research and documentation should be atop the to-dos of an agency dealing with such a prevalence of HIV/AIDS. A predominance that saw over 6,900 positives in the state between 2019 and 2020.
Moreover, OYSACA’s emphasis on HIV research mirrors the state’s seriousness towards promoting healthcare.
Interestingly, this is not the first time the Oyo state Agency for Aids Control will prioritise the festival. The Oyo state 2020 budget also featured a similar allocation. The agency allocated ₦11.5 million (exactly ₦11,500,000,000.00) for festivals but ignored the research and documentation. And by implication, OYSACA did not carry out any research all though last year, but remembered to “get down”.
“We can’t reply now”- OYSACA
When this reporter called the agency’s public line, the agency could not reply to the question. They, however, promised to get back to the reporter. “We cannot respond to your questions now. Maybe we will get back to you later”, a voice who remained anonymous snapped in response.
It’s all fun and games till another HIV/AIDS pandemic ensues
By and large, research is sacrosanct to beat the scourge of HIV/AIDS, lest it becomes another Coronavirus, Oladoku Ope Joseph, Medical Practitioner, told Dataphyte. He added that the Agency always researched because the disease (AIDS) has an unstable gene.
“Due to the nature of the disease (HIV/AIDS), which tends to change its genetic sequence and drug reactions, major research work is necessary to discover new drugs. To say we stop research on HIV could mean another pandemic of the disease. Since we only have temporary drugs, HIV will still mutate for now, and once it does our drugs will no longer work; this means we have to find other ones. In that case, research must not stop.”Oladoku Ope Joseph, Medical Practitioner