HIV/AIDS: FG Restates Commitment To 2030 Elimination Deadline

L-R: Rivers State Chairman, SOMTEC, Mr Oliver Wolugbom, UNICEF Observer, Mr Felix Obekpa, Secretary, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim and a member, Mrs Ruhunna Kejeh, during the maiden SOMTEC’s revitalisation meeting in Port Harcourt, recently

The Federal Government
has reiterated its commitment in strengthening the health sector towards achieving the global goal of eliminating HIV/AIDS by the year 2030.
The health minister, Dr. Osagie Enahire who stated this at a news conference to mark the 2015 World AIDS Day with the theme “Getting to Zero: Ending HIV/AIDS  by 2030”, recently, said that the theme was aimed at zero new Hiv infection, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths maintaining that any increase in HIV/AIDS new cases would impact negatively on the health and economy of the nation.
While revealing that about 3.4million Nigerians living with HIV as at the end of the 2014 out of the 36.9 million persons living with the virus globally. Enahire maintain that tackling the root causes of vulnerability remained the sure way to achieving the goals.
“People are vulnerable to getting infected if they are poor and lack information and education that will keep them away from it. More so, some factors that were responsible for government to take HIV/AIDS case seriously were the fact that there was preventive vaccine and its cost of management and control were enormous,” he said.
The Minister explained that Nigeria was currently treating no fewer than 800,000 people living with the virus with the Anti Retroviral (ARV) drug and that the federal ministry of health in 2014 conducted two important surveys  to collect data of infected persons.
Enahire revealed that the 2014 surveys showed a decline in HIV cases among pregnant women who attend antenatal clinics to 3.0 percent compared to 4.1 percent in 2010 adding that there was also a decline among youths from 6.0 percent in 2001 to 2.9 percent in 2014, attributing it to government’s intervention.
He therefore stressed the need for collaboration among stakeholders in the pursuit of preventing and eradicating HIV particularly among adolescents and youths, mother-to-child transmission as well as accessibility to care and treatment to aid the country achieve the 2030 deadline.
Also speaking, the Regional Director for Africa, World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Rebecca Moeti noted that sub-Saharan Africa was the most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic with nearly 26 million people living with the virus while 8000,000 HIV deaths occurred in 2014.
Moeti said however, that there was a defining moment in the HIV/AIDS response as a result of remarkable progress in the level of prevention, treatment and care for those living with the virus in Africa adding that the region had achieved the millennium development goal six of halting and reversing HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Commending African governments and partners for their significant financial investments in the HIV/AIDS response, the director said “we still have to fill major gaps in the response, stigma, discrimination and punitive laws persisting in our region”.
She continued, “children, young people, adolescents and key populations are still left behind. Only 43 per cent of people needing anti-retroviral treatments have access, while only 52 per cent of people living with HIV know their status. The target is to ensure that in the next five years, 90 per cent of people living with HIV know their status and 90 per cent of people diagnosed with HIV are offered the ARV therapy and moreso, 90 per cent of people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment achieve viral load suspension. With these, Nigeria and indeed, the African region will achieve the aim of ending AIDS by 2030”.

Lady Godknows Ogbulu