NACA inaugurates committee to curb public health challenge

National Agency for the Control of AIDS
(NACA) on Thursday inaugurated the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) and Pediatric Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Acceleration Committee in partnership with the Osun State Government as part of efforts to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive approach to ending the public health challenge.

The agency, however, assured that the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was irrevocably committed to end HIV/AIDS and achieve the goal of an AIDS-free generation in Nigeria by 2030.

The Director General of the agency, Dr. Temitope Ilori who dropped the hints while Inaugurating the Committee at the precinct of the Ministry of Health in the state, noted that the inauguration of the Committee in the state was part of a broader national strategy, with similar committees being launched in other states to build an AIDS-free nation.

According to her, “The Agency has also empowered hundreds of adolescent and young women in the state with different self-sustaining working tools which include hairdressing driers, grinding machines, sewing machines, baking ovens among others as over 800 residents of the state received free medical treatment.

“The Committee’s primary focus is to address the treatment gap among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV and ensure they receive continuous free medical care and support.

“The committee would help to reduce new HIV infections among children and improve health outcomes for HIV-exposed infants by enhancing PMTCT services and scaling up pediatric HIV care in the state.

“The establishment of this Committee signifies a renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his commitment to intensify efforts in these critical areas, striving to close existing gaps and ensure that no child is born with HIV in Nigeria,” she said.

“I’m here in Osun, on the directive of Mr. President to come and oversee the Osun State Agency for the Control of AIDS and also to interact with people living with the disease. Aside from that, we also want to empower our people by doing multi-disease medical outreach and distributing materials to vulnerable and young women.”

“We’re happy that Osun State has 0.9% prevalent, which is below the national average. Nigeria has a very huge burden of children born with HIV and Osun State is not an exclusion.

“So, we have come today to inaugurate the committee on prevention of mother-to-child transmission committee to ensure that no child is born with HIV Positive status in Osun state in particular and Nigeria in general.

“The committee is multi-sectoral and consists of the media, health professional bodies, traditional rulers, religious bodies, and officials of the Osun State Agency for the Control of AIDS, while the Ministry of Health is to increase public awareness of HIV/AIDS as the state still records new infections.

“Last year, we had 26,000 new infections among children 0-14 years and 15,000 AIDS-related deaths among children 0-14 years, showing that it’s still a public threat. So, it’s only when we work together with our state Governors and Local Government Agencies that we can change the narrative.

“As we have inaugurated the Committee on how to sustain our gains and to forge forward to ensure that no child is born HIV positive thus, the multi-disease outreach is to also let the people know their status in respect of the disease.

“With this program, our people would be tested for HIV, malaria, blood pressure, sugar check, and so on. In short, we want our people to know their HIV status; once they know their status, they can be enrolled and linked up to where they can access the medications free of charge in all our medical facilities.

“I want to assure you that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made provisions for the medications, and they are free in all our primary health facilities. If you know your status and you are HIV positive, you can access your medications and be virally suppressed, meaning that you can’t transmit the disease to anybody.

“Today, we have many HIV-positive mothers that give birth to HIV-negative children because they take their medications, and we equally have many HIV-positive women that are married to HIV-negative husbands that remain HIV negative and so on and so forth. What we are saying, in essence, is that it is imperative for everyone to know their status and use their medications whenever being tested and confirmed positive,” she explained.