By Justina Auta
An NGO, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), announced on Wednesday that it has provided in-care HIV/AIDS services support to more than 2 million persons living with the virus globally.
Dr Echey Ijezie, Nigeria’s Country Director, made this known at an event in Abuja to mark the milestone recorded in 47 countries since its more than 20 years of operation.
“We are immensely proud to reach this historic milestone when our global programmes launched 20 years ago in South Africa and Uganda with 100 patients in each.
“We never imagined we would be serving 2 million lives under our care around the world.
“At the time we started, it cost 5,000 dollars per patient annually for ARVs. Today, more than half of AHF’s 2 million lives receiving care are in Africa.
“The combination of medicine and advocacy, implementing prevention, care, and treatment programmes, and the support of government and other international donors have allowed us to reach this momentous achievement collectively.
“In Nigeria, we started with a zero patient base in 2011, but today, we have 29,000 in care under the Nigeria programme.
“Many of them in very remote locations in Abuja, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross River, Kogi, and Nasarawa states,” he said.
He added that AHF continued to leverage innovative healthcare delivery models to expand its reach and impact, especially in communities, by providing comprehensive medical care, treatment, testing, prevention, and support services.
Ijezie reiterated the commitment of AHF to advocate for access to HIV treatment and care for everyone who needed it by supporting the government in HIV/AIDS intervention and response.
Dr Chukwuma Anyaike, Director of the Public Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, while commending AHF, reiterated the government’s commitment towards improving health outcomes and unlocking the health sector value chain.
“We are excited to be working with AHF; one thing stands out – their robustness in getting to the hard-to-reach areas to support those living with the virus.
“We are excited about their intervention that has brought succour and hope for not just the people living with the virus, but other people as well,” he said.
Abdulkadir Ibrahim, National Coordinator, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), said the more than 2 million persons in care treatment showed AHF’s commitment to ending the virus globally.
“Putting 2 million lives on treatment shows that we are moving towards ending AIDS in Nigeria and globally.
“Scientifically, we know that treatment is working and serves as a means of prevention.
“By this, it shows that AIDS is no longer a public threat, as people are living and accessing treatment and living a healthy life.”
Oluwafunke Odunkade, Technical Officer, HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and STI, WHO-Nigeria, stressed the need to continue to ensure that all the people brought into care have optimum access to healthcare services.
“While we celebrate, we must be reminded that this is not the end. We still have the last hurdle to cross, and we can only achieve that by collaboratively rethinking our strategies.
“We are ensuring that HIV is fully mainstreamed into the health systems and not standing alone, and also ensuring that all the people that we brought into care have the optimum level of care.
“It is not just for us to have the numbers, but it’s important that they have optimum care,” she said. (NAN)