PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Nigeria: State govt. in measures to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Lagos State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), as well as other relevant stakeholders, is set to launch another round of campaign to accelerate the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to reduce maternal deaths in the state.
A statement by the Lagos State Ministry of Health stated that the campaign would enable infected pregnant mothers to have increased access to services to prevent their babies from being infected, as well as to encourage more families to embrace family planning practices.
"The goal is to catalyse high-level support through the mobilisation of strategic stakeholders, including women of influence, to improve demand for quality Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services and to encourage healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies," it said, indicating that "Government is worried that in spite of the existing facilities and services, the State still contributes significantly to the unacceptably high national maternal deaths and the national burden of HIV, due to low utilisation of PMTCT and Family Planning services."
The ministry said that the State is one of the 12+1 States which account for 70 percent of the Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV burden in Nigeria with its HIV prevalence of 5.1 percent based on the 2010 National HIV Sero - Prevalence Sentinel Survey and its vast population of 21,883,048, according to the Lagos State Bureau of Statistics.
It said that part of the strategy is to unveil the Wife of the Governor, Abimbola Fashola, as the face of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT)/Maternal Health in the State.
The strategy will also provide an update on progress towards elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV in the State in the light of the global plan targets highlighting achievements and gaps, it said.
It is also expected to stimulate commitment of critical stakeholders, provide vital information on PMTCT and compile a directory of functional PMTCT sites in the State.
The statement stated that UNAIDS is committed to revolutionizing HIV prevention policies and practices that will ignite policy makers, opinion leaders and community gate keepers to focus on populations and programmes that will make a difference in getting to zero new infections.
One of such programmes is the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV and the reduction of AIDS-related maternal deaths by half in 2015. This mandate is clearly in line with that of UNAIDS zero AIDS-related deaths, and UNFPA's mandate of delivering a world where every birth is safe and where every woman is treated with dignity/respect.
According to the 2012 projected population figures for Lagos State, there were 1,060,225 pregnant women in that year.
At an HIV prevalence of 5.1 percent, about 54,071 pregnant women are infected with the virus and approximately one-third of whom would, in the absence of any interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, pass the virus to their babies.
This translates to 16,468 preventable HIV infections among infants in the State during that year alone.
The Lagos State maternal mortality ratio of 555/100,000 life-birth, (or 555 mothers dying out of 100,000 mothers, while giving birth), is higher than the national figure of 545/100,000 life birth. This statistics clearly negates UNFPA's mandate of a world where every birth is safe and where every child is born free of HIV.
-0- PANA PR/VAO 14Oct2014
A statement by the Lagos State Ministry of Health stated that the campaign would enable infected pregnant mothers to have increased access to services to prevent their babies from being infected, as well as to encourage more families to embrace family planning practices.
"The goal is to catalyse high-level support through the mobilisation of strategic stakeholders, including women of influence, to improve demand for quality Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services and to encourage healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies," it said, indicating that "Government is worried that in spite of the existing facilities and services, the State still contributes significantly to the unacceptably high national maternal deaths and the national burden of HIV, due to low utilisation of PMTCT and Family Planning services."
The ministry said that the State is one of the 12+1 States which account for 70 percent of the Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV burden in Nigeria with its HIV prevalence of 5.1 percent based on the 2010 National HIV Sero - Prevalence Sentinel Survey and its vast population of 21,883,048, according to the Lagos State Bureau of Statistics.
It said that part of the strategy is to unveil the Wife of the Governor, Abimbola Fashola, as the face of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT)/Maternal Health in the State.
The strategy will also provide an update on progress towards elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV in the State in the light of the global plan targets highlighting achievements and gaps, it said.
It is also expected to stimulate commitment of critical stakeholders, provide vital information on PMTCT and compile a directory of functional PMTCT sites in the State.
The statement stated that UNAIDS is committed to revolutionizing HIV prevention policies and practices that will ignite policy makers, opinion leaders and community gate keepers to focus on populations and programmes that will make a difference in getting to zero new infections.
One of such programmes is the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV and the reduction of AIDS-related maternal deaths by half in 2015. This mandate is clearly in line with that of UNAIDS zero AIDS-related deaths, and UNFPA's mandate of delivering a world where every birth is safe and where every woman is treated with dignity/respect.
According to the 2012 projected population figures for Lagos State, there were 1,060,225 pregnant women in that year.
At an HIV prevalence of 5.1 percent, about 54,071 pregnant women are infected with the virus and approximately one-third of whom would, in the absence of any interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, pass the virus to their babies.
This translates to 16,468 preventable HIV infections among infants in the State during that year alone.
The Lagos State maternal mortality ratio of 555/100,000 life-birth, (or 555 mothers dying out of 100,000 mothers, while giving birth), is higher than the national figure of 545/100,000 life birth. This statistics clearly negates UNFPA's mandate of a world where every birth is safe and where every child is born free of HIV.
-0- PANA PR/VAO 14Oct2014
