Abia Working Hard to Halt Fresh Cases of HIV/AIDS by 2030, Says ABSACA DG

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The Director General of the Abia State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS(ABSACA), Dr. Uloaku Emma-Ukaegbu, has said that the agency has set a target of ensuring that no fresh cases of HIV/AIDS would occur in the state by 2030.
She said that the goal was attainable as the agency was working hard and all necessary measures are being put in place to ensure that things turn out according to plan.

The ABSACA DG stated this at a sensitization meeting for the media “on emerging issues on HIV/AIDS prevention”, organised as part of the engagements with critical stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Abia.
She noted that the last National HIV/AIDS  Indicator Survey(NAIS) done in 2018 put the prevalence in Abia at 2.1 percent, placing the state as number eight in the ranking of most affected states in Nigeria.

Though the prevalence rate in Abia was less than the national prevalence of 2.4 percent, Dr Emma-Ukaegbu said that the state was not resting on its oars as a lot has been done since then to further push down the prevalence rate.
According to her, everything points to the fact that HIV/AIDS prevalence in Abia has been on the downward trend since it was 5.1 percent prevalence before the 2018 NAIS when it dropped to 2.1.
Even at that, the ABSACA DG, who is a consultant public health physician noted that the agency “didn’t do as much we are doing now” when Abia recorded 2.1 percent prevalence hence a very significant drop would have been recorded since 2018.
She said that the state would sustain the downward movement in prevalence rate and hopefully in the next six years Abia would attain zero in new infections of HIV.

Emma-Ukaegbu said that Governor Alex Otti has energised ABSACA by providing the agency with what it needs for optimal performance in line with the governor’s ongoing revolution in the health sector.
She said that the agency is focusing more on preventive measures and as interfacing with various stakeholders to help drive the message home.
The ABSACA DG listed the target groups as ward development leaders, religious leaders, traditional rulers, schools, among others, adding that ABSACA has so far taken the sensitization message to 58 secondary schools in Abia.

“Nobody is left out. Everybody is identifying their part and how they would play their role to achieve the desired goal,” she said.
Emma-Ukaegbu said that Abia was getting ready to take full ownership and sustain the ongoing programmes aimed at eliminating the incidents of HIV/AIDS.
She explained that donor fatigue has set in among development partners, who have been sponsoring the fight against HIV/AIDS, adding that it’s being expected that they would exit in 2030 or thereabout.

In her presentation on the role of the media in the prevention of HIV/AIDS, the Director Prevention and Mobilisation in ABSACA, Mrs. Ekeoma Akidi stressed the need for the media to do away with derogatory languages when reporting about people living with HIV/AIDS.