By Boluwaji Obahopo

LOKOJA—A non- governmental organisation, NGO, Sustainable Mechanism for Improving Livelihood Empowerment, SMILE, has raised alarm over the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Kogi State, calling for urgent action to arrest the trend.

The NGO, however, said it is working to sensitise the public on the need to tackle the epidemic in view of its adverse effects on children.

The Kogi State Coordinator of the NGO, Mr. Kehinde Arowosegbe, spoke yesterday in Lokoja at an advocacy workshop for ministries, departments and agencies of governments on the right of children and their protection from abuse.

Arowosegbe said: “Against the misgivings that HIV pandemic has dwindled, and even though so much has been done to curtail its prevalence, but it has not abated.”