HIV/AIDS: Ogun Unveils Plan To Reduce Mother-To-Child Transmission

The Ogun State government unveiled plan to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS as part of efforts to continue to integrate and strengthen referral linkages between antenatal care, family planning and sexual and reproductive health services.

Executive secretary/project manager, Ogun State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OGSACA), Dr. Kehinde Fatungase, stated that resources would be harnessed to ensure that the state is free of the virus.

According to him, “The Governor Dapo Abiodun administration was committed to the wellbeing of women and children, stressing that contraceptive-demand generation programmes for HIV-positive women would be given utmost attention.

“The expansion of access to HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) services would be monitored.

“The agency was targeting at least 80 per cent of people living with HIV and vulnerable children in the three senatorial districts of the state for access to quality service, care and support, just as 90 per cent of all HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women are scheduled to receive ART by the end of 2021,” Fatungase said.

A consultant on HIV/AIDS in the state, Mrs. Balikis Olorunisola, said the state was passionate on data-gathering and documentation, keeping records of activities with accurate figures was essential for the state’s HIV work plan.

Olorunisola admonished participating ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and others to key into the programmes’ analysis, so as to increase prevention and save lives, with the assurance that the state government would institutionalise and strengthen the quality management systems for all ART and viral load assessment services.

Source: Voice of Nigeria

Link: https://von.gov.ng/2021/06/10/hiv-aids-ogun-unveils-plan-to-reduce-mother-to-child-transmission/