Panafrican News Agency - December 1, 2001
Segun Adeyemi, PANA Correspondent
The plan includes massive enlightenment campaigns, management of sexually transmitted diseases, prevention of mother-to-child infections and care for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs).
Results of the latest national HIV/Syphilis sentinel survey across the country, released ahead of the World's AIDS Day, showed a steady rise in the rate of infection from 5.4 percent in 1999 to 5.8 percent in 2001, among the 15-49 age-group.
The figure represents a four percent increase over that of 1991, when the survey was first conducted, and an increase in human terms from 2.6 million people in 1999 to 3.01 million in 2001.
Minister of State for Health, Amina Ndalolo, said the figures had pushed the government to "design a comprehensive dissemination plan to reach all the corners of the country and mobilise the nation towards more vigorous action".
The Nigerian government has also embarked on what it terms the most ambitious "care" projects in Africa in the area of access to anti-retroviral drugs by PLWHAs.
The government has received the first consignment of the four million naira anti-retroviral drugs it ordered earlier in the year, for the first phase of treatment in 18 tertiary institutions across the nation 10 December 2001.
"A limited number of patients will be enrolled for the treatment in the first three months in order to allow the implementers acquire enough skills in handling the drugs," the Minister explained.
"There after, the scheme will be scaled up gradually to 100 Centres and to cover a total of 10,000 adults in the first one year," she said at a press conference on the eve of the AIDS Day.
Beyond drugs, the government is also establishing Community Home-Based Care (CHBC) services, to provide care and support for PLWHAs and People Affected By HIV/AIDS (PABAs), within their communities and home settings.
A CHBC manual for health workers in the country, jointly produced by the government and WHO, was launched in Abuja by Ndalolo Thursday.
"It will serve as a comprehensive guide for health workers and health care facilities on how to provide care and support for PLWHAs and PABAs... It is designed to equip them with adequate information and to enable them disseminate effective messages on HIV/AIDS to communities and family members on caring for PLWA/PABAs," the Minister said.
On the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, the government said it had established six Centres at Teaching Hospitals in Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lagos in the South, Maiduguri and Zaria in the North, and Abuja, the federal capital territory.
UNICEF has donated computers, printers, television sets and videos, among others, to the "model sites," ahead of their official launching in January 2002.
The government also said because of the link between sexually transmitted infections and HIV transmissions, preventive measures were being stepped up.
"Therefore, the federal Ministry of Health adopted the syndromic approach to STIs management as recommended by the WHO. This syndromic management approach has been proven to enhance prompt and effective management of STIs in primary health care facilities, which constitute the first point of contact for the majority of our STI clients," the Minister explained.
Since assuming office in May 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo has upgraded the country's battle against HIV/AIDS, creating a National Action Committee on AIDS to co-ordinate efforts against the disease.
The national budget for AIDS control has also been increased to as high as four billion naira.
Nigeria hosted the African Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases in Abuja 24-27 April 2001, which agreed a continental approach to fight the pandemic.
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