Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
Country Director, Management Sciences for Health (MSH), Dr. Zipporah Kpamor has harped on the need for HIV/AIDS patients in Nigeria to adhered religiously to their treatment if the country is to eliminate the scourge.
Kpamor while addressing pressmen at the sidelines of a recent programme of the North-west Zonal dissemination of the 2016 National Guidelines for HIV Prevention Treatment and Care in Kaduna State, hinted that, for the country to eliminate the scourge, persons on treatment should adhere to it.
According to her, “Every few years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) brings out guidelines that would help us to better manage HIV patients in the country or globally. And so, Nigeria looked at these guidelines and decided to adopt them to suite our situation in Nigeria.”
Kpamor stated that in order to better enhance knowledge that would help meet target of 90:90:90, the Ministry of Health and its partners, came together to look at the guidelines and to see better ways to adopt and develope it in a way that would suite the country.
“We want 90 per cent of people to be able to know their status in Nigeria and globally. And the next 90 per cent who tested positive to be placed on treatment, and the remaining 90 per cent who are already on treatment to adhere to it. That is the 90:90:90 target and that is the way we can work to eliminate HIV in Nigeria,” said the country director.
In his remarks, National Coordinator, National Aids and STIs Control Programme, Dr. Sunday Aboje, said, as health professionals and representatives of government, it was their responsibility to cater to the health of the people and ensure that they are able to access the very best of services.
Aboje stated that the agency have done remarkably well as it has already recorded over 900,000 patients on treatment in improved and functional logistical systems for commodity, management and highly skilled manpower for the management of HIV/AIDS.
