The Nigeria Federal Government has expressed
disappointment over the lackadaisical attitude of some state governors
in implementing the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of
HIV/AIDS programmes in their states.
The Director-General of National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Prof. John Idoko, said this in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH
in Abuja on Friday during a stakeholders’ meeting entitled: ‘Most at
Risk Population Programme Implementation and Impact Evaluation’
organised by NACA.
The government also warned of a possible
increase in the spread of HIV/AIDS because many young people do not
have access to information and drugs.
Nigeria presently contributes two-thirds to the global HIV births with an estimated 70,000 children born with HIV annually.
According to Idoko, investigations from
some states visited by NACA revealed that although the general hospitals
were well-equipped, the ante-natal attendance by pregnant women was
still very low.
He said, “In South Africa, out of the
about three million people infected by HIV/AIDS, two million of them are
on drugs. Every eye is on Nigeria. If we want to save lives, PMTCT is
the largest hanging fruit to achieve it. If we address the PMTCT burden
in Nigeria, we would have addressed the global burden placed on us.
“In some of the states, most of the
general hospitals are well equipped. Yet, the ante-natal attendance has
been very poor. In one of the hospitals, 600 women registered for
ante-natal. But at the end of the day, only four eventually delivered
there.
“We want to double the number of people
currently on drugs from 500,000 to 1.2 million and provide treatment for
80,000 pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission. In one
particular state, six local government areas don’t have Prevention of
Mother-to-Child Transmission programme.”
The NACA DG also warned of a possible increase in the HIV/AIDS burden in Nigeria.
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