The New HIV/AIDS Microbicides and Advocacy Society (NHVMAS) Nigeria has called for government’s participation in the provision of HIV prevention drugs.
The Programme Manager, NHVMAS, Mr Oluwatosin Alaka, made the call at a media parley in Lagos on Wednesday.
Alaka stressed the need for the Federal Government to be involved in the provision of HIV prevention drugs.
He observed that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a drug that prevents HIV infection, was not readily available at government hospitals, adding that it was only available at One-Stop Shops (OSS) in Nigeria.
The programme manager said that it was time health officials and stakeholders began to change the narratives that PrEP was for key population alone.
According to him, key population is certain categories of people, such as sex workers, transgender and men who have sex with men (MSM).
Alaka further stated that PrEP was for people who were at risk of HIV.
Also speaking, Executive Director, NHVMAS, Mrs Florita Durueke, said that there was an injection one could take once in two months, although not available in the country.
Durueke called for advocacy by government on the global agenda and making the injectables available to those who needed them.
“There is advocacy and discussion about making PrEP accessible to pregnant women and nursing mothers, because pregnancy increases the rate of HIV acquisition, and for nursing mothers, it also increases the risk.
“In Nigeria, men don’t maintain mutual fidelity and sometimes women cannot negotiate condom use with their partners.
“If PrEP actually offers protection, government should expand the access to pregnant women and nursing mothers.
“PrEP is basically accessible for key population but, what about the vulnerable adults?” she queried.
Also speaking, Mr Olubiyi Sanders, Executive Director, Improved Sexual Health and Rights Advocacy Initiative (ISHRAI), stressed the need for training and re-training on the current trend.
Sanders said that some people had not been adhering to the usage, while others found it hard to access PrEP whose usage had been accepted in Nigeria.
“PrEP is still not readily available for a lot of people. You can only find them in One-Stop Shops (OSS).
“It is free of charge as they are being provided by international donors,” he said.
A volunteer, Mr Robinson Odii, said that he had been using PrEP for six months without any side effect, as against what he had been made to believe before.
Odii said that he preferred to get the drug from OSS and NGOs because of what he called discrimination in general hospitals.
Another volunteer, Mr Chibuzor Victor, said that he had been taking PrEP for three months, adding: “I am who I am; you don’t need to tell anyone who you are. Just live your normal life like every other person,” he said.
(NAN)