Nigeria has made tremendous progress in tackling HIV/AIDS and is on track to eliminate the disease by 2030, the federal government says.
Health Minister Dr Tunji Alausa disclosed this during a media conference to mark World AIDS Day 2023 on Thursday.
The theme for the 2023 commemoration is “Let the Community Lead.”
Alausa also published a number of national HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infection policy documents aimed at strengthening existing action frameworks to reduce the spread of the disease and manage its impact.
These documents are the 2023 National Guidelines for the Treatment and Care of Viral Hepatitis, and the 2023 Information, Education and Communication Materials for the Creation and Expansion of Needs for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission.
Others include expansion of standard operating procedures for PMTCT, expansion of PMTCT songs in 10 languages – 2023, and expansion of IEC materials for HIV self-testing – 2022.
Alausa said commendable progress has been made in dealing with the disease over the past two decades, with the goal of ending the epidemic by 2030.
“Nigeria currently has over 90% HIV treatment coverage and is on track to achieve this goal.
“Currently, 1.6 million of the 1.9 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria are receiving treatment.”
He added that communities contribute to the HIV/AIDS response in many ways, as their leadership and advocacy ensure that the response is relevant and foundational, putting people at the center and leaving no one behind.
“We cannot make lasting progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS without the active participation of communities.
“Our communities and community structures are more than just recipients of care; they are champions of change, catalysts for progress and pillars of our collective resilience,” he said. ”
He also said the tremendous efforts made by successive governments and other stakeholders to control the HIV epidemic by preventing new transmissions and improving lives cannot be overemphasized.
Alausa said that in November 2020, Nigeria joined the HIV Coverage, Quality and Impact Network (CQUIN), a multi-country learning network led by the National HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infection Control Programme.
This is to learn and share knowledge to support coordination and scale-up of HIV differentiated service delivery (DSD) in Nigeria.
Other ways to make progress, he added, is to expand numerous interventions and services.
Giving an update on the status of HIV epidemic in Nigeria, the National Coordinator of the National AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Program (NASSCP), Dr. Adebola Bashorun said that the annual HIV infection rates and the The number of related deaths has been steadily declining.
However, he said that of the 1.9 million people living with HIV, 270,000 have yet to be identified and that as of 2022, Nigeria has an estimated 159,923 children aged 0 to 14 years living with HIV; making it the highest HIV burden among children in the world one of the countries.
“In addition, 20,364 HIV-exposed infants (HEI) had early infant diagnosis (EID) samples collected within two months of delivery, meaning EID coverage was only 21% and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) rates at six weeks 14% at six weeks and 23% at six weeks. Through breastfeeding.
“An estimated 96,517 HIV-positive pregnant women will require PMTCT, but by 2022 only 34% will be enrolled in antiretroviral treatment (ART).
“However, in 2022, 50,676 children living with HIV (CLHIV) were on treatment, accounting for 32% of the estimated CLHIV children.”
Bashorun noted that despite ongoing efforts to identify pediatric cases and link them to HIV treatment, many children remain undiagnosed and therefore do not have access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy.
He added that it is crucial to identify these children and initiate antiretroviral therapy as early as possible.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Control (ATM), Hon. Amobi Ogah said it was important for Nigeria to recommit itself to reducing foreign support to at least 50%.
“We have not forgotten that more than 90% of the funding for our country’s HIV/AIDS activities through projects comes from foreign partners.
“So I’m calling on the federal government to look inward when it comes to supporting domestic funding because now is the time for us to determine our own destiny and not rely on foreign aid, which doesn’t do us any good.”
However, he assured that given the limited resources, the legislative body would work to increase budgetary allocations for the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“We will also provide a legislative framework to protect the rights of people living with HIV and other forms of discrimination and stigma,” he added.
Dr Chavan Laxmikant, Cluster Leader for Universal Health Coverage at the World Health Organization (WHO), said the gains recorded should be consolidated by creating an enabling environment for community leaders and continuing innovative approaches to HIV prevention, treatment and care.
“We call on the Nigerian government and its partners to empower communities to take leadership roles by providing an enabling environment and addressing cross-cutting issues (punitive laws and policies that hold them back, stigma and discrimination, gender inequality and violence).”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1 to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, show support for people living with HIV, and remember those who have lost their lives to the infection.
(South)