Since the Christmas Eve bombings in Jos, New Year’s Eve bombing in Abuja, and subsequent attacks on roads and in villages since, the normally bustling streets of Jos are often deserted. People there don’t feel safe to move about freely. When they must, it’s only to quickly venture to work, markets, or businesses close to home. Just last week, a nearly seven-month-pregnant friend bolted home from the market when violent chaos erupted. Praise God that she’s resting now while her unborn baby kicks. Her scheduled ultrasound is postponed until she feels safe enough to move about the city.
Many patients on lifesaving ARVs (anti-retroviral medications for HIV/AIDS) are also too scared to come to the hospital to refill their prescriptions. This is a MAJOR problem with life or death consequences—literally. In order for the ARVs to work, patients must take them every day for the rest of their lives or until a cure is discovered. If they miss even a few days, their bodies will most likely develop a resistance to this first line of ARVs, which hastens death. I say “first line” because there are second and third lines, but they’re entirely too expensive to be available in Africa.
What makes this year different than others for the Faith Alive Hospital is that it’s an election year. Nigeria is not like the United States, where our 200+ years of peaceful democracy have allowed peaceful transitions of power. Elections there equal bloodshed. The situation in Jos is not expected to improve before the April vote for President.PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray and invite any and all prayer groups to pray for immediate peace in Jos, a fair and democratic election and peaceful response, and that patients on lifesaving ARVs get and take their prescriptions uninterrupted.
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