The Deputy Director of Public Health in the Kaduna State Ministry of Health and Human Services, Malam Lawal Abubakar has said that estimated 7,175 infants live with HIV in the state.
Abubakar who disclosed this at the unveiling of the National Acceleration Plan for HIV Treatment and Care in Kaduna, said only 6.6 percent of the 7,175 infants were currently accessing anti-retroviral (ART) treatment in the state.
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Abubakar who also doubles as the state’s Focal Person on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT), explained that the development had left the state with an unmet infant HIV treatment burden of almost 90 percent. He added that between January and June, out of the 826 children from ages 0 to 14 that newly enrolled into the ART programme, only 402 were retained and placed on ART. Adopting the plan, he said, was aimed at effectively reaching out to all HIV infected children in the state.
“Adopting the plan has become necessary to strengthen prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and improve the treatment and care of HIV infected infants. The most efficient and cost-effective way to tackle paediatric HIV globally is to reduce mother-to-child transmission. As at June 2016, only 47 percent of pregnant women living with HIV received ART to prevent transmission of HIV to their children in Kaduna State,” he said.
Also speaking, a HIV/AIDs Specialist with UNICEF Abuja, Dr. Abiola Davies said many countries had achieved 90 percent coverage on drugs needed to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV; noting that Nigeria was not doing well in that direction with only 44 percent coverage.
By: Christiana T. Alabi, Kaduna
Daily Trust News
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