The U.S. says it will continue to support Nigeria in its quest to end the HIV pandemic in the country.
The US ambassador to Nigeria, Marybth Leonard, gave the assurance at the Workshop on Data Repository as a Resource for Achieving HIV-Epidemic Control, in Abuja.
She said that approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV received support to improve quality of life, including TB/HIV care services, and about 1.3 million orphans and vulnerable children received care and support services in Nigeria.
“I am delighted to join you today to celebrate World AIDS Day 2020. Every year we gather to celebrate people living with HIV/AIDS, remember those who have passed on due to the disease, and thank those who continue to work tirelessly to bring this epidemic under control.
HIV/AIDS continues to be a leading cause of death, with over 690,000 people dying from AIDS-related illnesses in 2019. Today, over 38 million people are living with HIV worldwide. The U.S. Government is fighting this disease through treatment and prevention initiatives and expanding access to HIV services for people worldwide. This World AIDS Day, we reaffirm our dedication to the fight to end HIV, “ Dr. Marybth said.
She also said that despite the threat of COVID-19, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – PEPFAR – helped diagnose and provide treatment to 6,000 HIV-infected Nigerians a week in 2020, while maintaining the integrity and quality of services, and keeping the health care providers workers safe.
“Now, PEPFAR is supporting lifesaving treatment to over a million patients in the and is partnering with the Government and people of Nigeria to achieve epidemic control Nigeria,” the ambassador said.
The Nigerian minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who declared the Workshop open, said that the workshop was a timely opportunity to critically examine available data in the country.
He also acknowledged all the supports of partners.
“There’s no doubt that 2020 will be judged by history to be an important year in global public health. Despite the threats that COVID-19 posed to our programmes and our targets, it’s a paradox in that it also presented us important opportunity for learning and for change. I’m certain that most of this learning will remain with us even in the post COVID era,” Dr Ehanire said.
The Director General of the National Agency for the Control of Aids, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, said that the National Data Repository would go a long way in identifying persons with HIV and placing them on treatment.
Similarly, Dr. Murphy Akpu of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, says the agency is proud of the investments made so far in Nigeria.
“PEPFAR has invested more than $6 billion in the national HIV/AIDS response in Nigeria alone. In Nigeria in 2020: More than 8.2 million people have received HIV counseling and testing services; similarly, more than 1.2 million pregnant women received HIV testing and counseling toward prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV,” he said.
He said that PEPFAR supports Nigeria in the critical areas of policy development, human capacity development, and overarching health systems strengthening, including the provision of state-of-the-art laboratories and pharmaceutical warehouses, to enhance Nigeria’s health systems to tackle not only HIV/AIDS but other diseases as well.
“While acknowledging the human suffering and socio-economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we continue to recognize significant progress towards mitigating the effect and ensuring that those living with HIV can live a long, normal, and productive life. One of such improvements is the ability to have a secure national data system that caters to patients’ and healthcare providers’ needs”.
Speaking on behalf of the Network of Persons Living woth HIV AIDS in Nigeria, Mr. Abdulahi Ibrahim, said that Nigeria was in confusion as regard data.
He gave assurance that the NEPWHAN was totally committed to the success of the project.
The Data Repository is a Repository of of de-identufied patient level data collected from health across the country.
It provides for patients data to be collected at facilities, entered directly into Electronic Medical Record system.
Lateefah Ibrahim
