UNAIDS urges governors to re-strengthen maternal, newborn child health

Dr Bilali Camara, the Country Director, UNAIDS Nigeria, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.

Camara urged the governors to commit themselves more to the MNCH week, adding that the event is one of the critical events that help in the prevention of mother to child transmission HIV.

He added that UNAIDS would leverage on the event to widen the access to HIV and AIDS response services.

He said the UNAIDS would use the week to enhance access to HIV and AIDS services and ensure that it yielded more results by reaching out to many people through the pregnant women.

“When you identify one child or a pregnant woman living with HIV and AIDS during the week, it may also lead other people within the family,’’ he said.

He also encouraged national decision makers to implement task shifting and task sharing policy, to bring HIV and AIDS services more closer to people.

Camara added that UNAIDS would also partner with the governor’s forum to decentralise the treatment of HIV and AIDS under the task shifting and task sharing policy of the government.

He explained that task shifting and task sharing policy allow key stakeholders to decentralise the treatment of HIV and bring the services closer to people.

“It also enables nurses to treat people leaving with HIV and AIDS.’’

Beides, Camara appealed to national decision makers to improve the HIV and AIDS data situation in the country, and believe that the scourge can be eliminated in the country.

He also called for increased domestic funding of HIV and AIDS response programmes at all level of governance to beef up the pace of ending AIDS as public health challenge in the country.