By Ijeoma UKAZU
“I was infected in 2013 when I went for my Industrial Training as a community health worker. A needle pricked me when I was treating an HIV positive client from Cameroon in a community in Cross River State.
“I felt like heaven should fall when I was confirmed HIV positive. I told my father and he immediately took me to a general hospital to commence treatment. I could not take the antiretroviral drugs the first two weeks it was given to me. As a result, I developed Tuberculosis and treated it for three months before I commenced the antiretroviral drugs,” says Vera Ushie, an HIV positive mother.
Continuing, Ushie said, “Today, I am married with two children. I am HIV positive. My children and husband are negative. I do not joke with my medication, as adherence is one of the ways to stay healthy, keep viral load low and prevent transmitting the virus to an unborn child. So my children were not infected when I was pregnant.”
Mrs Ushie who is now a role model to mothers living with HIV in her local community in Cross River State told The Abuja Inquirer in an interview that, “As a mother living with HIV, I mentor other mothers who are HIV positive. I do tell my neighbours, friends that are positive to visit the clinic and enroll for treatment. This is to enable them have more information and counselling by the health personnels.
She said, “Some of the things I do tell HIV mothers are: Do exclusive breastfeeding but follow all measures by the doctor; they should adhere to their drugs, concentrate on your children’s drugs and they should take their children to the hospital for a Dried Blood Spot Test, DBS -for HIV exposed infants and children to know their status and they often come out negative.”
In Nigeria, report say, many mothers who are living with HIV do not access Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV/ AIDS, PMTCT services in their various state.
Revealing this during his presentation at a three-day media dialogue on PMTCT recently held in Calabar, a medical expert, Dr. Ijaodola Olugbenga has decried that about 63 percent of HIV pregnant women in Nigeria do not access, PMTCT services in health facilities across the country.
Olugbenga who is the Assistant Director, National PMTCT Lead, National AIDS and STIs Control Program, NASCP Federal Ministry of Health also said, “3 in 4 pregnant women in Nigeria are not captured during antenatal care. Nigeria contributes to 22,000 new HIV infections among children. Only 28 percent of HIV exposed infant had access to Early Infant Diagnosis in 2020.”
He pointed that there are key issues why Nigeria has such high numbers, to include; “low uptake of early infant diagnosis services, low antenatal services uptake, low Anti-Retroviral Therapy, ART coverage for positive pregnant women, low rate of facility deliveries, amongst others.”
Olugbenga revealed that some strategies have been put in place such as; “organising all facilities (private and public) and other services delivery point of HIV services for pregnant women using a “hub and spoke” model. This help in the linkage and retention of all HIV positive women in treatment based on the hub and spoke, establish and empower the local government team to address data, sample logging commodities and other relevant HIV services in the country.”
He lamented that, “Poor access to the formal public health sector, PMTCT services at present reaches only about a third of pregnant women in Nigeria and many states are yet to respond to the provision of adequate funding for HIV programmatic activities, including PMTCT.”
He said that there was an urgent need for a clear community strategy to reach the unreached, recognise the importance of working with all actors, private providers, Traditional Birth Attendance,TBAs, community leaders and networks of People Living with HIV.
Contributing, the focal person, Paediatric ART/ PMTCT, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Cross River State, Dr. Atana Ewa during her presentation titled: “Managing Children and Adolescent Living with HIV”, pointed that identifying HIV in children requires a high level of suspicion.
She said usually the symptoms and signs of HIV infection in childhood are similar to those of other diseases in the tropics but they may be more severe and occur more frequently.
Dr. Ewa revealed some early features in children that are usually non-specific to include; fever, diarrhea, failure to thrive, cough, generalized Lymphadenopathy, adding that the child later presents with other features that are indicative of severe immune suppression amongst others.
She however said these situations could be managed with the new improved HIV drugs available.
On the current transmission of HIV in Nigeria, she says heterogeneous sex still account for the majority of transmission in Nigeria.
“Over 90 percent of transmissions -unprotected sexual intercourse between heterogeneous individuals. Homosexual sex is currently contributing disproportionately to the overall national epidemic.
“It is estimated that Men Sleeping with Men, MSM constitute only about one percent of the Nigerian population, yet this group now contribute to 20 percent of new HIV infections in Nigeria. Prevalence of the infection among MSM has been rising consistently from 14 percent in 2007 to 17 percent in 2010 and 23 percent in 2014 (Eluwa).”
Atana called on the media to project some intervention that would help eliminate Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV to include; HIV counseling and testing at entry into PMTCT to detect positive women, ART given to positive women during pregnancy, minimal invasive procedures during labour/ elective Cesarean Section amongst others.
Earlier in his presentation, the Communication Specialist UNICEF, Dr. Geoffrey Njoku said that the workshop is targeted to invigorate and produce a workplan for members of the Journalists Alliance for the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS, JAPiN in Nigeria.
Njoku said that the objectives of the workshop are geared towards bringing HIV communication to the front burner.
According to him, “We need to begin to set new agenda in support to programming and resource mobilization, provide updated information on current state on HIV/AIDS, re-energise, re-engage, re-invigorate, resuscitate, revive and resurrect JAPiN.
“The expected outcome of this workshop is to empower journalists to develop and publish informed content on HIV/AIDS, increased reportage and impact on financing of HIV/AIDS programmes in Nigeria.”