By Hassan Zaggi
The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), has said that it is prepared to conduct another survey at the end of the next year to ascertain the progress so far achieved in an effort to halt the spread of HIV in the country.
The Director General of the agency, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, who stated this at the scientific session to commemorate the 2021 World AIDS Day in Abuja, Wednesday, however, said that surveys are capital intensive, hence, his agency is soliciting for funding support to get the survey done.
The scientific session is with the theme: Epidemic Control and Sustainable HIV financing in Nigeria in the face of COVID-19 .
He said that the survey that was done in 2018 is due for another one next year.
It would be recalled that the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) was released in 2019.
The NAIIS survey is a cross-sectional survey that assessed the prevalence of key human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related health indicators.
Apart from the survey, Dr. Aliyu further called for increased funding support from non government organisations and wealthy individuals to end HIV in Nigeria.
“There are money bags around, why don’t we bring them along to support in the supply of logistics, HIV test kits and drugs.
“There is a lot of work to do in the fight against HIV but we will soon get there,” he said.
The NACA Director General, however, applauded international organisations and other global partners for their support in the past 40 years.
He noted that his agency is making efforts towards identifying those who have the virus, provide services to them as well as give opportunity for regular testing.
Speaking earlier, the Director, National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Programme (NASTICP), Dr Akudo Ikpeazu, lamented inadequate services for the Prevention of Mother to Child transmission in the country.
Efforts, according to her, are being made to ensure that women are reached with Prevention of Mother to Child transmission (PTMTCT) services in all parts of the country.
She advocated the need for proper record and data of pregnant women who have tested positive, stressing: “we need to test all pregnant women who are positive and there is need for data.”
