On April 2008 in Bauchi State, The State Government in April 2008 set up an agency known as ‘Bauchi State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’, (BACTMA) under the Chairmanship of a Doctor of Virology, Rilwanu Mohammed who has created a niche for himself in the medical field over the years and is presently setting the pace in the fight against HIV\AIDS in the country.

Since its inception more than a year ago, BACATMA has identified some junction towns like Bulkachuwa and others as the most dreaded areas in terms of prevalence.

But now according to statistics made available by the BACATMA, the scourge has drastically reduced and people now troop to the HIV center at the Specialist Hospital for counselling and voluntary blood screening to enable them know their status after which they have access to all the required drugs including anti-retroviral drugs to keep them going.

Rilwanu Mohammed said that the Agency discovered that due to lack of voluntary blood
screening many people got infected and died. This he said increased the number of widows/widowers in the state, a development he said led to the increase in the scourge of the infection as these individuals who are positive but are unaware of their status, go into marriages thereby infecting their spouse and increasing the number of positive people and death due to HIV/AIDs related death.

It was in the move to check this according to the BACATMA Chairman that the Agency came up with the idea of match making all the positive people with support from donor agencies.

He said that the idea started with counselling at the clinic when the positive people were assured that they can marry each other, live happily and even have babies that will not be infected.

As at today, BACATMA has successfully match-made 110 couples. Another set of 8 are waiting to wed. The weddings will be done as soon as all the marriage formalities are completed with the parents of the intending couples. According to him, the wedding will be low-keyed because of the present economic meltdown which he said has affected the funding of the activities of the Agency in terms of support to the people.

The chairman and staff of BACATMA will not be attending the weddings. This is so that people will not suspect anything because the wedding will be conducted in the normal way in the open for people to see but only the couple and their parents/guardian as well as the Agency know their status.

He also said that BACATMA supports the couples with money monthly for their up-keep. The first set of couples were given the sum of N50,000 each but this was reviewed to N30,000 and now to N20,000 due to the economic crunch. They are now getting N15,000 monthly.


So far, twenty of the couples have given birth to children who are negative through the prevention of mother to child scheme. Twenty of the husbands have indicated their intentions to take second wives because they are enjoying their lives now.

He said the Agency is vigorously pursuing collaboration with the State Sharia Commission to sponsor a bill at the State House of Assembly to ensure that compulsory HIV testing be done before weddings by intending parties so that the spread will be minimized.

One beneficiaries of the scheme is known as Atomic. He is known as the ‘Father of HIV Positive people in Bauchi State’ was tested and found positive in 2005 and since then he has being living happily with his wife who was confirmed positive in 2006. They have access to the required drugs and have three healthy children who are doing well with the first one clocking eight years of age.

Atomic said he wants everybody to go to the hospital to know his or her status so that he or she will be able to live a normal life, saying that it will do a lot of good to the society and commended BACATMA for the match making programme which he said has actually helped them to be people with hope again.

Another beneficiary Auwalu, discovered he was infected with HIV positive in 2006 after many years of marriage. Since then he has remained committed to the campaign against the spread of the infection. He has two wives and children who are negative. He would like to marry another wife and is appealing to BACATMA to facilitate the wedding.

Danladi Adamu knew his positive status in 2002 and was placed on drugs in 2006. He married his wife who is also positive and they have been living their normal lives as husband and wife. His wife was diagnosed in 2006 and was placed on vitamins and other antibiotics until later in the year when she was started on the anti-retroviral drugs.

Rabi is a 32 year old married woman who is living positively with HIV. Though she was
confused and devastated at the initial stage after counselling she accepted her condition and started to take the necessary drugs, She later met her husband who is also positive through the activities of BACATMA and today she has a two year old baby girl who she said is healthy.  She said she would not mind if her husband decides to marry another wife.

Hadiza Aliyu is a mother of three and the state secretary of NEPWH who is happy with what
BACATMA is doing in seeing that HIV positive people are given a reason to live a normal lives. She believes the Agency has actually set a standard that has made Bauchi State unique in the fight against HIV\AIDS pointing out that due to the serious sensitization exercise of the Network, people have come to understand the need to be counselled and tested.

She said that the stigma has reduced drastically all over the State giving an instance where a village head in demonstration that the infection is not contagious was seen eating with a positive person in public to the admiration of the villagers who had thought that there should be no association with the positive person. The organization has support from various donor agencies in the country as well as the State Government which has recognized their existence through BACATMA. She added that, “people who are HIV positive can still live a normal life, all they need to do is come out and know their status and use the drugs correctly. HIV does not kill if properly taken care of.”