By Yinka Shokunbi
As the challenge to meet the Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6 hots up, the Lagos State government is set to begin a new campaign to accelerate the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and maternal death reduction in the state.
In a unique collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as other relevant stakeholders, the state is unveiling new strategies to ensure no child born to any HIV infected mother tests positive to the disease.
The new goal is to canvass for high level support in ensuring the rapid elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and maternal deaths through the mobilisation of strategic stakeholders, including women of influence, to improve the demand for quality Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) and to encourage healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies.
Part of the strategy is to unveil Wife of the Governor, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, as the face of PMTCT/Maternal Health in the state.
The state is one of the 12+1 states, which accounts for 70 per cent of the Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV burden in Nigeria with its HIV prevalence of 5.1 per cent based on the 2010 National HIV Sero-Prevalence Sentinel Survey and its vast population of 21,883,048, according to the Lagos State Bureau of Statistics.
According to a statement by the Lagos State Ministry of Health, the campaign will enable infected pregnant mothers to have increased access to services to prevent their babies from being infected, as well as to encourage more families to embrace family planning practices.
The strategy will also provide an update on progress towards elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV in the state in the light of the global plan targets highlighting achievements and gaps.
It is also expected to stimulate commitment of critical stakeholders and provide vital information on PMTCT and a directory of functional PMTCT sites in the state.
The statement noted also that UNAIDS is committed to revolutionising HIV prevention policies and practices that will ignite policy makers, opinion leaders and community gate keepers to focus on populations and programmes that will make a difference in getting to zero new infections.
According to the 2012 projected population figures for Lagos State, there were 1,060,225 pregnant women in that year.
At an HIV prevalence of 5.1 per cent, about 54,071 pregnant women are infected with the virus and approximately one-third of whom would, in the absence of any interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, pass the virus to their babies.
This translates to 16,468 preventable HIV infections among infants in the state during that year alone.
The Lagos State maternal mortality ratio of 555/100,000 life-birth is higher than the national figure of 545/100,000 life birth.
This statistics clearly negates UNFPA’s mandate of a world where every birth is safe and every child is born free of HIV.
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