Dr. Vetty Agala, Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme, RVCHPP, has stated that carrying out multistage advocacy can help to generate and sustain funding for health interventions like those of malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis, among others.
RIVCHPP’s Executive Secretary, who expressed the view on Tuesday, 17th F, 2026, when she had in audience stakeholders of the different health interventions in her office, also called upon them to see to it that their interventions continue despite the withdrawal of donor funding for improved healthcare indices for the people of the state.
Dr. Agala suggested that one way of having continuous funding of their programmes is by incorporating the programs into the annual operational plans(AOP) at the different levels of government for possible budgetary allocations.
Dr. Agala, who also announced that RIVCHPP has enrolled over 1500 persons living with HIV/AIDS in the state, urged IHVN to look at facilities across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state where people living with HIV should be enrolled into for that specialised care that they need. She informed the delegation that the Governor Fubara led dninistration is committed to the health of Rivers people through the Health for All Rivers vision.
Earlier in his remarks, the lead from Global Fund, Dr. Chukwura Anyaike, said that they have come for the entry meeting/ advocacy visit to brainstorm on how the health interventions will continue to get funding now that the US Government and other donor countries and agencies have started withdrawing funding.
They said that their interest is to see to it that funding for health interventions, which have been so beneficial to the people continue through state government budgets, health insurance coverage and other means of domestic resource mobilization efforts.
Also present at the visit were representatives of State AIDS/STI Control Programme (SASCP), Institute of Human Viriology of Nigeria (IHVN), Association of Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), and Global Fund.
Idanye Oruigoni
Head, Information/Public Relations Unit,
RIVCHPP.
