Abuja – The National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA) says it will embrace new models that would enhance transparency and accountability to win the confidence of foreign donors funding HIV/AIDS programmes in Nigeria.
Dr Sani Aliyu, the Director-General, NACA, made this known while briefing newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja ahead of the 2016 World AIDS Day.
Aliyu said the key priority of the agency was transparency and accountability in all its activities.
He said the agency will strengthen its system at the moment to deepen access to HIV/AIDS services at the level of government.
He added that the partners still have confidence in the agency and expressed optimism that the agency will achieve its target.
In related development, Aliyu said the agency would adopt “Option B+’’, which refers to testing and treating pregnant women who are positive to HIV after her delivery and post partum period.
He added that there is scientific evidence that show that women who are kept on treatment have better health outcomes.
Aliyu said there would be financial pressure on the programme, but it does not mean that it is not the right thing to do.
He added: “That is what the rest of the world is doing and we will join them to do the right thing for our people.
“We know clearly that there are issues with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria particularly the prevention of mother to child transmission.
“Most of the challenges have to do with testing of the population involved even though a lot of people know about HIV/AIDS many do not know that the issue can be treated.
“We will work with Federal Ministry of Health and our partners to push for a new approach for prevention of mother to child transmission of the disease.’’
According to him, prevention of mother to child transmission of the disease will not be possible without having other agencies on board like National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
“NACA will engage with all the agencies and push for a common approach.
“For a pregnant woman it is not just an issue about HIV alone; there is malaria, anaemia and other issues,’’ he said.
The director-general said the new collaboration would integrate HIV testing with other antenatal services.
He said the agency knew that it cost about $150 dollars per person per annum to deliver anti-retroviral therapy to a person.
“We estimate about 177,000 pregnant women living with HIV in Nigeria. We have 53,000 on treatment, which means that there is a gap in treatment,’’ Aliyu said.
According to him, NACA would seek funding from the partners, private sector and engage with the state government to bridge the treatment gap.
He said many state governments were now adopting the health insurance scheme and that NACA would exploit the opportunity to increase funding.
He said Nigeria is presently at the bottom of the list when it comes to prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, but other countries had been able to engage and move forward.
“NACA with the support from its partners and private sector organisation will do the same, finances notwithstanding,’’ he said.
Similarly, Rep. David Mbugadu, House Committee Chairman on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said the National Assembly would ensure that adequate resources was appropriated in the 2017 budget to scale up access to HIV/AIDS programmes.