The Federal Ministry of Health says that it has adopted the 90-90-90 approach in tackling the spread of HIV.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said it was looking to test 90 per cent of Nigerians for HIV and also ensure that 90 per cent of those who are positive get treatment and 90 per cent of those on treatment are virally suppressed.
Adewole said this in Abuja on Tuesday at the dissemination meeting of amethyst HIV 1 and 2 and self-test kit, saliva cassette and 10 antibody based HIV rapid test kits 2016 evaluation reports.
The minister said, “What is also important is that this administration has adopted a 90-90-90 approach. We want to test 90 per cent of Nigerians. We want to ensure that 90 per cent of those who are positive get treatment and so we link them up with treatment immediately and we also want to ensure that 90 per cent of those on treatment are virally suppressed.
“In other words, the level of viruses in their blood stream will go down and they will not be able to infect their partners or any other persons and that is why we want tests that are reliable and people can use.”
Adewole said the government was hopeful that if affordable test kits are made available to Nigerians, people would be able to know their status easily and immediately begin treatment.
The minister said, “Let me say that what we are also doing is to encourage people to do self-testing which to me is really the innovation. We believe you can be in your house and test yourself for HIV. And that is the new advancement we have been able to put across in medicine where you can test yourself for many things.
“So, we are appealing to everybody that has tested positive to go for treatment. HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. Since the advent of highly active and potent anti-retroviral, HIV has been normalized. It is now regarded as a chronic ailment like tuberculosis and diabetes so no one should be ashamed.”
Source: Punch News
