Monarch Advocates Mandatory Pre-marital HIV Test

District head of Gagi in Sokoto State, Sani Umar Jabbi, has called on House of Assemblies nationwide to enact a law that mandates potential couples to undergo HIV, sickle cell and genotype tests before marriage.

The monarch made the remarks in his goodwill message at a recent media roundtable organised and sponsored by The Challenge Initiative (TCI) and DevComs in Sokoto State.

According to him, stakeholders and members of communities are the pillars that would help civil society organisations to push for the establishment of the law that would provide mandatory HIV tests by any intending couple before marriage.

Jabbi further stated that as traditional rulers and community leaders, they would continue to push as advocates of family planning for the state assembly to enact the law to reduce the spread of diseases in society

He called for collective efforts and partnership of religious and traditional leaders to advance advocacy by facilitating a stronger and more coordinated approach to effective service delivery.

The executive secretary of Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SSPHCDA), Dr Larai Aliyu Tambuwal, commended Devcom/TCI for organising the interactive session.

Dr Tambuwal said the roundtable would go a long way in advancing more awareness of the benefits of family planning among various communities in the state.

The Executive Secretary noted that the state government has invested hugely in health care, particularly in family planning and its acceptance has always increased.

Alhaji Musa Ubandawaki, the state Media Coordinator Devcom/TCI, said the major objectives of the meeting were to present and discuss the organization’s media engagement in support of the state family planning program.

Ubandawaki also said the meeting was to support the state government to achieve greater self-reliance to scale up family planning and AYSRH-impact interventions for sustained improvement in the urban health system and increased use of modern strategies.

The state manager, Devcom/TCI, Dr Bello Muhammad Kilgori, made an extensive presentation on preliminary 2023/2024 national demographic and health survey findings, successes, challenges and the way forward.