According to the Benue State Ministry of Health and Human Services, the successful placement of over 188,000 persons living with HIV/AIDs on treatment has dropped the pandemic prevalence rate from 10 percent to 4.9 percent as at June 2020.
This is even as the director, Public Health, Dr. Terna Kur said the implementation of 2021 Annual Operational Plan (AOP) will also help the State Health Sector to achieve zero prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
According to Dr. Kur, already, 93 percent of citizens have known their HIV/AIDS status, 93 percent are also on effective Anti-retroviral drugs treatment while 82 percent have their viral load suppression.
Represented by the deputy director, Public Health, Dr. Terver Tule, he explained that significant improvement has been made in the 2020 AOP, adding that, if replicated in the 2021 plan, the state will attain the 95-95-95 target of Achieving Health, Nigeria Initiative (AHNI) as well as the National Aids and Impact Survey (NAIS) United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS control.
“We can only achieve the UNAIDs and NAIS target of 95-95-95 pandemic control, if citizens are willing to come out to test so that those found positive will be placed on treatment. If this is done, it is the only way Benue can attain zero transmission in the next phase.”
He attributed the feat attained so far to the enabling environment provide by the Benue state government which attracted so many partners to the state in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
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Earlier, the coordinator, HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Programme (SASCAP), Dr. Gabriel Anefu disclosed that different approaches and strategies for continuous service delivery to patients are employed during the lockdown occasioned by COVID-19.
“For us to reach out to our clients during the COVID-19 lockdown, we employ different approaches and strategies like multi-months dispensing of the drugs, we give the drugs to clients three months, four months, some six months. We also brought community model where we have places like pharmacies, patent vendors identified within communities are given anti-retroviral drugs for some of the clients to access within their communities, especially those far from our facilities and those who believe more in this patent vendor.”
While commending AHNI for supporting eight Health Comprehensive sites in the state and 58 Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMCT) sites which he said is one of the Catch Up Plan, Dr. Anefu lamented a situation where the state is contributing 16 per cent of new infections of babies born by HIV /AIDS infected mothers who are not on treatment.
He urged expecting Mothers yet to know their HIV/AIDs status to visit healthcare providers such as Madonna Hospital, Màkurdi, General Hospitals in Gboko, Katsina Ala, Tse-agberagba, Lessel and Oju as well as Comprehensive Health Center, Adi and Saint Elizabeth Hospital, Vandeikya for testing services and possible Prevention of Child to Mother Transmission (PMCT).
In their separate remarks, the HIV/ AIDS Prevention Officer, Benue State Aids Control Agency (BENSACA), Regina Ameh and the chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Samuel Otene promised to collaborate in the fight against HIV/AIDS prevalence to bring to zero level the prevalence rate in the state come 2021.
