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22,000 Nigerian children get infected with HIV yearly – UNICEF

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22,000 Nigerian children get infected with HIV yearly – UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that about 22,000 Nigerian children get infected with HIV yearly.

The Chief, Management for Results of UNICEF Claes Johansson, who announced this at the national dialogue meeting for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Nigeria on Tuesday, stated that about two-thirds of the infected children do not get treatment.

Johansson depicted the meeting as an important one for Nigeria to deliberate methods of eradicating vertical transmission of HIV, otherwise called mother-to-child transmission.

He said, “We are working within a framework to map out a strategy that we will work with for the next five years along with Nigeria.

“Ending the vertical transmission of HIV/AIDS is one of the key actions that will also help end pandemics, which is what the global world is looking forward to.

“However, we have so much to do and a long way to go, especially with mother-to-child-transmission taking about 32 percent and one out of seven being infected on a monthly basis is a Nigerian with about 22,000 infected yearly.

“This is a situation that is simply not acceptable and for all these children who get infected, about two-third of them do not get treatment.

“So, we in the global community want the Nigerian government to tell us what their sustainability strategic plans are and what they need to eliminate vertical transmission. The UN and its affiliated agencies and bodies are always willing to help Nigeria put an end to PMTCT.

“Let us know your priorities so that we can assist and help map out strong, sustainable ways of eliminating vertical transmission.”

In his comments, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) Gambo Aliyu, stressed the need for a better plan to confront PMTCT.

Aliyu clarified that in 2016, there were about 13,000 infected pregnant mothers who were not getting treatment, which had increased to 421,000 as of 2019.

He accredited the increase to the fact that many pregnant women were not visiting health facilities, stating that part of the plan deliberated at the dialogue was how to get treatment to the women if they were not willing to come to the facilities.

Betta Edu, the Commissioner for Health in Cross River State, who talked on behalf of health commissioners of all the 36 states, stated that it was vital to work together with other HIV-related establishments so as to make PMTCT succeed.

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