In a landmark effort at combating the scourge of HIV and AIDS among children and other groups, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) joined by the Honorable Commissioner for Health and Human Services Dr Oyebanji Filani inaugurated the National Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) and Pediatric Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Acceleration Plan Committee in Ekiti State today .
Performing the official inauguration in Ado-Ekiti, the Director General NACA Dr. Temitope Ilori said that the Committee was dedicated to intensifying efforts to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission and improve access to treatment for children living with HIV.
Dr Ilori disclosed that Nigeria has a significant challenge on preventing mother to child transmission of HIV noting that approximately 140,000 children aged 0-14
are living with HIV, with 22,000 new infections and 15,000 AIDS -related deaths occurring each year.
“To address the above situation, the Honorable Minister of state for Health recently established a national-level acceleration Committee and we are replicating this model at the state level to ensure that the states are fully engaged in eliminating mother- to- child transmission of HIV, along with real-time programme monitoring.”. She said.
The NACA Director General added that her team was working actively to provide the right environment for achieving the goal of ending AIDs as a public health threat by 2030.
The Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani stated that the state has made lots of efforts and committed great resources to reducing cases of HIV and AIDS in the state.
Dr Filani said that an AIDS- free generation was within our reach adding that no child should be born HIV-positive in Ekiti State saying that the state has made significant efforts at combating the scourge of HIV and AIDS.
The Commissioner further disclosed that in Ekiti State under the state flagship health insurance program, Ulerawa that every resident has access to free healthcare services at any of the state Primary Health Centers including HIV AIDS diagnose and treatment.
He charged members of the Committee and other relevant stakeholders across all communities in the state to ensure that HIV and AIDS becomes history in Ekiti and Nigeria at large.
Earlier while making his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Ekiti State AIDS Control Agency (EkSACA). Dr. Dairo Ojo, expressed confidence that the committee would fulfill its mandate of eliminating mother-to-child transmission rates across the state.
In their goodwill messages, members of the committee who were drawn from various relevant MDAs, civil society organizations, Faith-based organizations as well as health professionals amongst others expressed their commitment to achieving the year 2030 goal.
