By Hassan Zaggi
The Federal Government has expressed its determination to expand the services points for the treatment of HIV in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from the current 6000 to about 40,000.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, disclosed this at a media briefing organised by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) to mark the 2022 World AIDS Day, in Abuja.
Represented by the Coordinator of the NASCA, Dr. Akudo Ikpeazu, the health minister said the aim is to find all pregnant women, test all, treat all and report.
“Some of the specific strides we have made this year to address access issues include a PMTCT mapping to identify all places where women access delivery services in order to find all HIV positive pregnant women.
“Based on the findings we are working toward expanding the points of service from the current 6,000 to about 40,000 locations identified in the mapping across the 36 states and FCT. Our aim is to find all pregnant women, test all, treat all and report all,” the Minister stressed.
The Minister further explained that: “In addition, to address some of the concern in access for children, Nigeria has joined the Global Alliance to end AIDS in Children by 2030.
“The alliance is currently made up of 12 countries that are committed to building momentum to address gaps, mutual accountability and galvanizing action for results.
“In this regard we will focus on the 4 pillars of the Alliance which are: early testing and optimized treatment for children, closing treatment gaps for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV, preventing and detecting new infections among adolescent girls and women, and addressing structural barriers that hinder access to services.”
While calling on stakeholders and partners to work together to address the inequalities which pose barrier to ending the HIV epidemic, the Minister said: “Today we have 90% of people who are HIV positive know their status, 98% of these are on HIV treatment and 95% of those on treatment have attained viral suppression.”
Speaking, the Director General of the NACA, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, called on states to increase their investment in HIV.
He called on states to consider removing user fees in the treatment of HIV.
“As we work with the states to eliminate the basic user fees as well as domesticate the laws against stigma and discrimination, we are also working with states to see how states can increase investment into HIV.
“Basically, this investment may not be in direct funding in terms of cash, but we welcome this investment in kind, keeping the clinic working, paying the workers, especially, the health workers salaries on time and making accessories available for the clinics to run just the same way malaria, tuberculosis and other clinics run in our hospitals.
“These are things we believe our states governments can do and we are looking forward to see them leading.
“As we also come to support through our development partners activities at the state level and make more resources at the state level, we want the state level to also come to the table with an envelope.
“This envelop can be in terms of money that is going to be made available to HIV coordination and activities that is going to be utilize by the state implementing entities as well as services that can be provided. As we work collectively, the needed progress can be achieved through team work,” Dr. Aliyu said.
While explaining the progress made in the HIV response, the NACA Director General said: “As at the end of September 2022 we have 1,619,133 persons on treatment, which represents a significant leap when compared to 838,020 persons in 2017.
“ Our treatment sites have increased from 251 in 2007 to 2,262 in 2020
“New HIV infections gradually declined from 103,404 in 2019 to 92,323 in 2021
“Significant growth in key population treatment centres, 10 in 2017 with a coverage of 16,147 to 118 in 2021 with coverage of over 221,010
“Pre COVID 19 Molecular laboratory assessment done in 27 sites now in over 100 sites accessible for prevention and treatment purposes.”
