National AIDS Secretariat (NAS) has dismissed report that commercial “sex workers to get Covid-19 fund” amid public outrage adding its office doesn’t manage any Covid-19 funds.
The Institution’s reaction comes a day after government denied the report as not true.
NAS said in a statement: “there was no mention in the NAS Director’s statement that COVID 19 funds will be given to sex workers” adding “The NAS is not managing any COVID 19 Funds and there are no plans to use COVID funds to support sex work or sex workers in The Gambia.”
It is rather unfortunate that the Director message is taken completely out of context, the statement said.
“H.E President Barrow or Government has never allocated funds to support sex work or sex workers in Gambia. It bleeds one’s heart to hear people politicizing this unfortunate situation without any attempt to verify the story. The Secretariat wishes to apologize to all who have been in one way or the other affected by this unfortunate and misguided situation,” the statement added.
“However, it is rather worrying and unfortunate that recent strategic extremism in Gambian society continues to have a persistence of misinformation in the response to HIV and AIDS, especially when such misinformation leaks out of mainstream media into cyber-ghettos.”
It however commended the media of continues to play a pivotal role in the fight against AIDS. It is often said that education is the vaccine against HIV, adding: “many media organizations are rising to the challenge by promoting awareness of HIV and AIDS and educating people about how to prevent HIV transmission. According to national surveys conducted in The Gambia, about 53% of Gambians identified the media as their source of information about HIV.”
I was amazed when I was informed that there are 17,000 arts in the country. So, we need to authenticate that.
Now one thing I want to implore on you is that if anybody who should eligible to be a member of the musician union, if you don’t have the artistic ability, you should not be accepted.
