HIV/AIDS: UNICEF, Breakthrough Train Managers On ART

Towards  checking HIV/AIDS treatment gaps among children and adolescent UNICEF, in collaboration with “Breakthrough Partnership Project” have trained about 15 Case Managers on Paediatrics Anti-retroviral Treatment (ART) in Port Harcourt. 
Making this known during an exclusive interview shortly after the training, the Health Specialist, UNICEF Rivers Field, Dr Anslem Audu, said the training was aimed at equipping the trainees on skills that would enable them improve the quality of HIV / AIDS ART services offered children and adolescents in treatment sites across Rivers State.
“We’re training some group of Health workers as Case Managers for the implementation of paediatrics ART services, scaling up paediatrics ART services to the children and adolescents in Rivers State.
“We expect that these various Case Managers that have been trained will be deployed to the treatment sites and act as Case Managers. 
“As Case Managers, they are to monitor the children using the ART, ensuring that they use the drugs consistently, and to ensure that the child on ART is virally surprised while on treatment”, he said.
According to Dr Audu, the ultimate intention is to ensure that Case Managers were deployed to all the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State at the end of the day.
“In each LGA we will train and deploy at least five Case Managers that will monitor the sites. It’s a gradual thing. This present training is for about 15 Case Managers, for a start”, he said.
Also speaking, the Programme Manager, Elizabeth Glaser Paediatrics Foundation, Nigeria, Dr Nguavese Torbunde, explained that the reason for the need for Case Managers was to ensure that children and adolescent living with HIV were retained in the treatment programme.
“A lot of them (children and adolescents) are not adherent to their medication.
This means they are not taking their drugs the way they should, which also means that their viral load is not suppressed.
“This is why we need these care givers (Case Managers) to look after them, and take care of them, monitor them, so that they can get virally suppressed”, she said.
Towards achieving this objective, DrTorbunde said her organization is working closely with the State Government, through the State Ministry of Health and State Primary Healthcare Management Board.
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatrics Foundation are the executors of the Breakthrough Partnership Project, in collaboration with UNICEF in Rivers State.

By: Sogbeba Dokubo