01122020 - Why Nigeria's at mercy of terrorists — LAI MOHAMMED

Vanguard, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 — 39
WORLD AIDS DAY:
We can control HIV in 1year if every Nigerian
knows their status — DG, NACA
By Sola Ogundipe
THE COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant im
pact on the Nigerian health system. One of the areas
that felt the effects of the global malaise was the National
HIV/AIDS response. The Director General of the National
Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, Dr. Gambo
Aliyu gives insight into the impact.
In this interview with Good Health Weekly, he sheds
light on the national HIV treatment programme, the effect
of budget cuts to the Agency, the implications of ARV
drug resistance, the newly introduced HIV-self test kits
among other key areas of the HIV response.
Sanni who admonishes Nigerians to know their HIV
status is convinced that the country has what it takes to
control HIV and stop its transmission and death rate.
Excerpts:
Burden of drug resistance
in HIV treatment
Even after HIV is controlled,
the testing issue is
going to linger because it
is an issue that borders on
people having the discipline
to know their status
and to take treatment.
People should continue to
take this medication and to
continue to subject themselves
to periodic testing to
see how this medication is
helping to make the virus
disappear.
The burden of drug resistance
in HIV treatment
is not very significant to the
extent of becoming a public
health issue, but our responsibility
is to prevent
that occurrence and to
make sure that we do not
see it become alarming. We
don't even want to give that
room for it to grow.
As implementers and
providers, it is important
that we make sure there is
no interruption in the supply
of medication.
We may have a situation
where patients are willing
to and ready to take this
medication but if you create
an atmosphere where
the medication becomes
unavailable, then you are
consciously or unconsciously
introducing an environment
where resistance
can grow and it
would be unfortunate.
If you have a significant
proportion of your patients
becoming resistant, especially
in a place like Nigeria
where we have over
one million individuals on
treatment and carrying this
virus, if you introduce an
atmosphere where resistance
grows, then your
control mechanism will be
challenged.
ARV resistance is
National security issue
The ARV resistance issue,
is a national security
issue because if a significant
proportion of patients
are resistant, then the possibility
of controlling the
epidemic is going to be
extremely difficult.
The result is that resistance
will develop as a sec-
ondary complication in
someone who has the virus,
and now if the medicine
is withdrawn, with the
virus already exposed to
the medicine, and then
later withdrawn temporarily
or permanently, this
would give an atmosphere
for resistance to thrive.
It also follows that if this
person develops resistance
and is able to transmit that
resistant virus to another
person, that virus is now
getting a new infection
from a virus that totally
does not respond to the
drugs that are available.
So this is the danger. If
we are getting significant
proportion of people with
resistance to the HIV drugs
coming up, the implication
is that we would have a
chunk of them that would
need more expensive
drugs to be treated.
HIV treatment
programme
Last year we has 50,000
patients on treatment by the
government of Nigeria.
This year, we are having
100,000 on treatment also
by the federal government
of Nigeria. Next year, we
hope to make it 150,000
patients despite scarce resources.
Right now we
have a total of 1,240,000
patients on treatment.
Impact of dwindling
donor funds
Essentially the cut in donor
funding that Nigeria
has experienced so available
and we have succeeded
in placing the
100,000 patients on treatment.
HIV Trust Fund
On the side of the private
sector, we have progress.
In collaboration with the
private sector of the business
community, we plan
to have this HIV Trust
Fund and raise money to
support HIV programmes
in the country. We hope to
get the Trust Fund registered.
A chief executive has
been identified and signed
and will be ratified before
the end of the year. In the
Dr. Gambo Aliyu,NACA, DG.
next quarter of 2021, we
plan to launch this Trust
Fund.
We are focusing more on
the area of the states contributing
to the HIV response,
not that the states
should be giving us federal
government money,
but making money available
to the state agencies
to coordinate and control
HIV/AIDS response in the
respective. We have not
made significant progress
in this area and it is one
we will focus on in the next
year because the states are
significant to ending
AIDS.
Over 80 percent of the
people on treatment now
are states' patients. Over 95
percent of the hospitals
that provide services for
HIV are state owned.
Over 90 percent of the
health workers that provide
services in these facilities
belong to the state.
The federal government
has less than 115,000 patients
that are taking treatment.
It is important that
we work with the states so
they can take over the leadership
of the response, not
necessarily that they provide
the resources, but
mostly to coordinate it. It
is important because on
the long run, there is no
way that we can attain
sustainability and
normalise everything and
get everything under control
without the states taking
the leadership and
being in the driver's seat.
We need to do more work,
pay more visits to state governments
and make more
presentations at the National
Economic Council
With the help of the Vice
President, two years ago,
we had an intervention
and a few state governments
responded but we
need to remake a case.
ARV injection for women:
We have had formal communication
that this ARV
injection exists and is
working well. Traditionally,
when such things are
available, we look at the
data globally, where the
media action has been
used and for how long and
how many patients involved
and how successful
it has been.
This is simply because
we need to do due diligence
before introducing
such innovation of
progress. It is a good idea,
inject le antiretroviral,
they're given once or twice
a month, or two months,
they make life easier for
people who have to take
these pills every day.
However, such persons
would be required to come
to the health facility for the
injection 12 times in a year.
Every month, they must
visit the facility and get injected,
but with the conventional
ARV pills, they
may only visit four times in
a year. She they do visit,
we give the pills that will
last for three months. It is
called the multi-month dispensing.
The patients can
now choose which they
prefer - pills or injections.
We haven't started doing
the injection here in Nigeria
but it is something that
we would be looking at
very soon.
Impact of COVID-19
on HIV response
Particularly during the lock
down period, Covid-19
has impacted in such a
way that it has denied us
opportunity to identify
people with newly identified
infections. Every
month and every year, we
go after the remaining
people that are not identified
so that we can identify
them and bring them to
treatment because that is
the only way that we can
get to control HIV and end
AIDS.
Continues online
Why Nigeria needs a proteincentred
nutrition policy
— EXPERTS
By Chioma Obinna
NIGERIAN nutrition
experts have
explained the rationale
behind the urgent need for
a protein-centred nutrition
policy, stating that such a
policy would guarantee and
produce sound leaders that
the country would be proud
of. The group of experts
who spoke during a webinar
put together by MediaCraft
Associates Ltd tagged: "The
case for a protein-centred
National Nutrition policy",
called the urgent need for
government at all levels to
begin to come up with a
nutrition friendly policy that
would guarantee the future
of Nigeria and its children
Speaking, a Public Health
Expert and Co-founder and
National Chairperson
Women in Global health,
Nigeria, Dr. Adepeju
Adeniran said there was
the need for a concerted
effort towards ensuring that
everyone in the population
enjoys a measure of good
health.
She listed key factors
responsible for protein
consumption habits in
Nigeria to include the
availability of food source,
Boy 15, seeks N1.2m for
cancer surgery at LUTH
Samuel Ogunwole
UNLESS there is urgent
intervention, 15- year-old
Samuel Ogunwole may not
live much longer.
Samuel, who is currently on
admission at the Lagos
University Teaching Hospital,
LUTH, was diagnosed of
Right Colon Cancer which
was earlier confirmed at
Faniyet Hospital Lagos.
A medical report from the
NSIA – LUTH Cancer Care,
signed by a Consultant
Radiation and Clinical
Oncologist, Dr Adegboyega
B.C, said Samuel who hails
from Kwara State is being
managed for Right Colon
Cancer Post Right
Hemicolectomy.
“Histology report done on
8th May 2020 showed Signet
Ring Cell Carcinoma, stage
affordability of the food, taste
of the food, knowledge of its
nutrition value and personal
choice or preference of the
buyer.
Noting that studies have
shown that most of those
who consumed protein in
Nigeria depended on
animal protein, she said
"Seventy-eight percent of
households that did
consume protein consumed
meat/fish/poultry. 31.25 per
cent of households that
consumed protein
consumed nuts and seeds;
20.28 percent of households
that consumed protein
consumed a dairy product,
cheese, yoghurt or milk;
16.15 percent of households
that consumed protein
consumed eggs, 72.9 per
cent of households that
consumed protein
consumed dark green
vegetables; 7.47 percent of
households that consumed
protein consumed insects or
other small sources of
protein". She explained that
data extracted from the
Nigerian Protein Deficiency
Survey reports showed that
about 51 percent of the
survey respondents did not
have access to protein-rich
food because of cost.
3 disease. “He is scheduled
to undergo adjurant
chemotherapy. The cost
estimated includes;
Chemotherapy N135, 000 for
six cycles totalling N810,000,
plus miscellaneous,
admission, blood
investigations, radiology
services, medications, total
cost estimated is
N1,110,000.”
Since the diagnosis,
doctors attending to Samuel,
an SS3 student of Ajao Estate
Grammer School, Lagos said
he (Samuel) requires further
Chemotherapy and
Radiotherapy surgery to
forestall irreversible and lifethreatening
complication.
Evaluation at the hospital
revealed that the young boy
will need a total sum of N1.2
million for urgent corrective
surgery. Sadly, his parents
cannot afford the hospital bill.
Narrating the family’s
ordeal, his mother, Mrs
Olasunbo Atobatele, a
hairdresser said: “The
money is too much for us. His
father is unemployed. We
have raised N400, 000 but we
need N1, 200,000. We are
appealing to well-meaning
Nigerians to please come to
our aid.” If you are touched
by Samuel’s plight, please
call his mother on
07035883489 or send your
donation to UBA Account
number: 2172234115,
Name- Ogunwole Samuel.