Health ministry to NACA, NASCP, others: no child should be born with HIV

The Nigerian government has embarked on a new strategy to combat mother-to-child transmission of HIV and immediately inaugurated a multi-sectorial committee to ramp up to the 95 per cent prevention target.

The Minister of state for health and social welfare, Tunji Alausa announced the inauguration of the HIV prevention committee on Thursday in Abuja, stating that the country’s current mother to child HIV prevention rate should not be tolerated.

The minister said Nigeria contributes 25 percent to the global burden of HIV transmission from mothers to their children.

He assured that the ministry would work with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS ,NACA, and the National AIDS and STIs Control Programme ,NASCP, to ensure that no child is born with HIV.

“As you are aware, Nigeria contributes 25% of the global burden of HIV transmission between mothers and their children,” Alausa said.

“Despite testing approximately 4 million pregnant women in 2023, our PMTCT (prevention of mother-to-child transmission) and pediatric HIV coverage remain at about 35%, falling significantly short of the 95% target.

“Through the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and the National AIDS and STIs Control Programme (NASCP), we will provide effective governance for this programme.

“Eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and ensuring care for all persons living with HIV, especially our children, aligns with the renewed hope agenda of Mr President.”

Also speaking, Temitope Ilori, the director-general of NACA, expressed concern over the low coverage of PMTCT and pediatric HIV in Nigeria.

Ilori said about 140,000 children below 14 years old are living with HIV as of 2023, with 22,000 new infections and 15,000 AIDS-related deaths occurring among underage people.

The NACA DG noted that the newly constituted committee will drive the implementation of the initiative, in line with the sector-wide approach to health care in Nigeria.

“Nigeria faces a critical challenge in preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and ensuring access to care for children living with HIV,” Ilori said.

“The objective of today’s meeting is to formally inaugurate the acceleration plan committee to provide oversight to the PMTCT and pediatric HIV programme implementation in line with the three-one principle of one coordinating agency, one strategic framework, and one M&E system.”