HIV/AIDS: Stakeholders Adopt Strategies On Adolescents, Children Treatment

Towards ensuring that the number of adolescents and children in HIV/AIDS treatment in Rivers State is increased, key stakeholders have come up with strategies to identify and place more of them on treatment.
The Health Manager, UNICEF Office, Abuja, Dr Abiola Davies, who revealed this in an interview, said the step was in realisation of the minimal number of adolescents and children that are currently on HIV/AIDS treatment in the State.
She explained that while Rivers State currently has about 100,000 people on HIV/AIDS treatment, the number of adolescents and children on treatment is regrettably minimal, with children presently at 0.2 percent.
Dr Davies, who was fielding questions shortly after a meeting of stakeholders in Port Harcourt, said, “we have about 100,000 people on treatment now, but the number of adolescents and children is still very minimal.
So, the programme we are looking at, is trying to see how we can increase the identification (of adolescents and children), which is the very first step, “she said.
She explained further that having realised that identification is one of the key bottlenecks to ascertaining the extent to which adolescents and children are on HIV/AIDS treatment, stakeholders are now synergising to achieve the ultimate goal.
“What we’re doing is to work with the State to try and develop a working strategy and see how we can identify the missing children”, she stated.
Part of such strategy, she said, was to carry out mass testing of families in which either parents have been diagnosed to be HIV positive.
Stakeholders at the meeting include UNICEF, representative of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State Agency for the Control of AIDS (RIVSACA), Rivers State Ministry of Health, and Rivers State Hospital Management Board.

By: Sogbeba Dokubo