HIV/AIDS: 2030 Zero Infection Target Achievable, Says  NACA

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt 

The South-South Zonal Coordinator of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Nnamnso-Owo Thomas, said the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2030 zero HIV infection target can be achieved.

Thomas, who stated this in Port Harcourt, during a two-day NACA South-South Zone Stakeholders Coordination Meeting, said given the right things being done, including political will, leadership, others, the target is achievable.

He said: “It is possible because, with the political will, leadership, and ownership, it’s possible”.

Noting that currently the HIV response in Nigeria is donor driven, and that over 80% of response comes from donors, who are mostly international, he said ownership of the response is a must.

“If the state governments are ready to support the State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA) in all the states, through funding, and the Local Agency for the Control of AIDS (LACA), it can be possible to achieve the 2030 target”, he said.

He explained further that, “as it stands now, in Nigeria, and, in fact, in HIV response, no one should be HIV positive because we have the science and all that is required for someone not to be HIV positive”.

According to him, this is because if people duly go for testing, especially those directly exposed to HIV infection, such as rape victims, they will be placed on Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), and will subsequently not be positive.

In the same way, he said, if “somebody involved in risky behaviour is on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), the chances of contracting HIV is also very limited.

“If we have the right funding, it will increase our prevention activities and others, so that we can close the gap and even meet our target before 2030”.

He advised participants in the meeting to ensure they execute the recommendations from the meeting in order to close the gaps identified in HIV response in their various states.

“As they’re going, they need to engage with the government, because beyond the government approving budget, they need to start releasing those approvals for SACA to be able to carry out their mandate.

“We discussed a lot of things, but the one that stood out for me is for them to increase engagement with (their) state government, so that the impact will be more felt, and the government will now begin to support them”, he said.

Speaking on the gaps identified in HIV response in the meeting, the State Representative, UNAIDS, Dr. Idayat Uth, said they include “non-analysis of HIV data for decision-making for HIV programming”.

She continued: “Another thing that came out clearly is the sustainability of fund for HIV response in Nigeria and the South-South Zone.

“It was seen that most of the time, the government budget include HIV response yearly, but, unfortunately, the funding allocated hardly gets disbursed for SACAs, or the state, to even implement programmes related to HIV, and this has stood out as a challenge to HIV programming.

“Most often, most state entities end up falling back on Implementing Partners (IPs) or donors to actually fund and technically support their activities, which should not be so”.

She noted that participants were updated on the current transition period in HIV response, which will see international donors gradually exit the scene under the New Business Model by 2025, after building the capacity of government entities.

Speaking on the mandate of the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN), in HIV response in Rivers, the Project Director, IHVN, Rivers Surge Project (RSP), Port Harcourt, Dr. Stanley Idakwo, explained that since the advancement in treatment of HIV, which has seen positive persons live longer, IHVN has gone beyond HIV to non-communicable diseases.

He said IHVN “has a mandate to programme implementation in terms of HIV programming and beyond. IHVN has expanded into other non-communicable diseases, including cancer and research.

“So, in Rivers State, IHVN has the mandate on treatment and care for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), and other disease entities as tuberculosis”, as well as others that affect people as they age.

On his part, the Programme Manager, Rivers State Agency for the Control of AIDS (RIVSACA), Dr. Francis Naaziga, talked on what will be done in Rivers State, regarding the gaps in HIV response identified in the meeting.

He said: “we will go back and have our own in-house meeting to discuss the way forward. A lot of the revelations have been issues on coordination and strengthening the structure for SACA and resource mobilisation.

“We are aware that the partners are bringing a lot of support to the Ministry of Health system because of treatment, but we know that it looks as if prevention has not been given the required attention.”