The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Temitope Ilori has reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by year 2030.
During her visit to the Oyo State Ministry of Health on Monday, Dr Ilori emphasized that despite Nigeria still having a high number of children born with HIV, the country remains committed to ending the epidemic.
She highlighted the crucial need to focus on Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV through increased awareness, advocacy, and access to healthcare services.
She also emphasized the importance of engaging traditional birth attendants and various community leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“In the area of PMTCT, it is unfortunate that Nigeria still has the highest burden of children born with HIV/AIDS, and therefore, this is a key priority area where we want to work assiduously to ensure that our mothers, our women, are educated and informed and know that they should visit health centres,” she said.
“When they are pregnant, they should book in health centres where they have trained personnel to take the delivery because most of the transmission takes place perinatally.”
Dr Ilori further calls for collective efforts to achieve the 95-95-95 targets set by UNAIDS by 2030, stressing the significance of also addressing gender discrimination.
“On the national response which you are very familiar with, I know Oyo State has domesticated the political declaration that talks about 95-95-95, whereby 95 per cent of all people living with HIV to know their HIV status, 95 per cent of all people diagnosed to receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 95 per cent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy to have viral suppression,” she said.
She commended the Oyo government for its contributions to the national HIV/AIDS response and for domesticating the 95-95-95 targets.
Dr Ilori emphasized the crucial need to reach out to vulnerable populations, including those in custodial centres, as well as key populations such as sex workers, people using drugs, and men having sex with men.
She pointed out that research indicates a higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS within these groups, highlighting the importance of addressing them to effectively tackle the national response to the epidemic.
![Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetumobi, Oyo State Health Commissioner](/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/vlcsnap-2024-04-29-23h09m55s195-e1714429011958.png)
In her remarks, the State Health Commissioner, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetumobi, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to sustaining awareness campaigns and community engagement efforts.
Dr Ajetumobi also emphasized the urgency of addressing the issues of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), highlighting its potential to impede the progress Nigeria has achieved in combating the disease.
She said Oyo State is actively pursuing its sustainability plan which includes conducting community awareness campaigns and involving religious leaders to encourage people to take responsibility for their health instead of solely relying on government intervention.