By Peter Uwumarogie
The Centre for Integrated Health Programmes (CIHP) says it is currently supporting at least 30,500 persons living with HIV with Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).
“Currently, we have 30,500 people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment,’’ Associate Director, State Programmes Operations at CIHP, Emily Madina, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Monday.
Madina said that strengthening the fight against HIV/AIDS was part of the organisation’s major mandate.
She added that CIHP had been supporting family-focused, comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and treatment activities in Gombe State in the last 14 years.
“Nationwide, Gombe State is one of the states that are at the point of achieving epidemic control.
“We started at the point when the state’s prevalence was at 5.8 per cent and currently the prevalence is at 1.3 per cent, so we have gone a long way and we are almost at epidemic control level.
“We hope to take the state to the epidemic control level and that’s why we have the second mandate to tackle COVID-19,’’ she said.
According to her, the implication of the success of the fight against HIV/AIDS in Gombe State is that “we have less people dying of HIV.
“The number of new infections has reduced significantly; so you will have healthy population both for people that are not infected and those that are infected.’’
Madina added that it would also reduce the rate of infection because “if people are virally suppressed they will not be able to infect others.’’
She called on residents in the state to continue to go to hospitals and to community health centres so they could get tested.
“If you know your HIV/AIDS status and you are started on treatment, it will reduce the risk of new infection,’’ she stressed.
Madina advised young people to ‘zip up’, and wait till they got married before engaging in intercourse.
She advised those who could not wait to use condoms if they must have intercourse.
She also appealed to residents to avail themselves of COVID-19 vaccination as a way of complementing governments’ and other stakeholders’ efforts at combating the virus. (NAN)
