‘It is important to know your HIV status’

The Executive Director of the Nasarawa State AIDS Control Agency (NASACA), Dr Ruth Bello, in this interview with UMAR MUHAMMED, speaks on the importance of testing for HIV; how to prevent mother-child transmission of HIV and efforts of the agency towards prevention and treatment services in the state, among others.   What is the burden […]

The Executive Director of the Nasarawa State AIDS Control Agency (NASACA), Dr Ruth Bello, in this interview with UMAR MUHAMMED, speaks on the importance of testing for HIV; how to prevent mother-child transmission of HIV and efforts of the agency towards prevention and treatment services in the state, among others.

 

What is the burden of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nasarawa State?

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nasarawa State and those on drugs; currently we have over 65,000 people following the biometrics capture, and we discovered that people have been captured that have not been recaptured anywhere. They are currently on medication in the state. We have over 65,000 people living with HID/AIDS and on medication – antiretroviral therapy for HIV.

Presently, the prevalence of HIV AIDS in Nasarawa  State following the NAIIS studies in 2018 is 2%, which is a reduction because over the years, we moved from 8.6% to 6.3% to 4.3% and now we are at 2%. Before, we had a few facilities that offered HIV services but now in the state, almost every facility in the state offers HIV services.

How important is screening for HIV?

Well, generally, what I want to say is that please, people should check their status. At every given opportunity, screen yourself. If you are positive, HIV is not a death sentence. It is a treatable disease. You take your drugs, and once you take your drugs, within a few months, your viral load is suppressed.

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Once your viral load is suppressed, you cannot transmit the disease to another person and avoid risky behaviour if you are negative. That will predispose you to HIV positive and also, let’s continue to create awareness about this disease and let people know because we know that, especially our young children in schools, whether secondary schools, tertiary institutions, they should know how HIV is being transmitted and they should know what they can do to prevent themselves from being infected.

With that, I think by 2030, we will be able to achieve epidemic control. As long as we have people that are HIV positive, their viral load is suppressed, and they should take their medication seriously. For those that are negative, they should take precautionary measures so that they cannot be infected with the disease.

And for the mothers, they should go for antenatal clinic and even if you want to deliver at home, go for antenatal clinic so that you will be screened and be sure you don’t have HIV, so that you will not give birth to a child that is HIV positive. With that, we will be able to achieve epidemic control by 2030.

What is the number of dead recorded in the state from 2013 to date?

It’s going to be difficult for me to know because it’s going to be across the state so, I don’t have that data.

What is the state government doing to woo NGOs to partner with it toward reducing the disease to its barest minimum?

Actually, the agency, you know, before it was funded by the World Bank that is HIV activity generally in the country. But since 2017, when the World Bank project ended, Nasarawa State government has been funding HIV activities in the state. The agency works in collaboration with other partners in the state.

We have the implementing partners, the Civil Society Organisation on HIV. So, it’s not just the government agency, even different communities, the Network of people living with HIV, and line ministries.

We also work in collaboration with faith-based organisations and the Ministry of Justice when it comes to anti-stigma and discrimination which is a big problem too, because it’s a driver of the epidemic as people don’t want to come out because they will be stigmatised.

Briefly, what is the state government doing to ensure optimal prevention and treatment services?

In Nasarawa State, we have the anti-stigma law signed into law since 2012. It’s been in the state with us and we have sensitised people living with HIV to know that this law is there and anybody that is being stigmatised or his right been violated can always seek redress.

In the state, we have over 1,000 health facilities, both government and private and it’s not just government, public hospitals are offering HIV services, even private too, because there are some that don’t want to go to public facilities, so they prefer to be attended to in private hospitals.

We made it like that so that it will not be far from where you are because before, people in Nasarawa State can travel all the way from Plateau State because they wanted to access HIV services, but now it’s just within your community. You don’t even need to take a bike, you can walk to any facility and you’ll be screened and linked to the nearest facility that will give you treatment.

Since the enactment of this law, has anybody been arrested in the state?

Well, we have had so many cases of people reporting that their rights had been violated because of one thing or the other. But the only problem I would say is that it’s not being enforced. We work in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Justice, traditional rulers, religious leaders, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), we have Police Action Committee on AIDS, CSO and many more.

We also work with the Network of People Living with HIV AIDS. In fact, we have a technical working group for Gender and Human Rights. We also work in collaboration with line ministries like the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Youths and Sports and Ministry Of Education to ensure that the burden of HIV/AIDS is reduced to the barest minimum.

So, usually when they report these cases, if you want to follow up, they may come back and say they want to settle it locally. So, those are the challenges that we have.

 

What are the common myths about HIV-AIDS and what is the agency doing to debunk them and create awareness about the disease?

Well, the agency has done a lot in terms of creating awareness on HIV-AIDS, because a lot of people looked at HIV-AIDS as a death sentence, stigma and discrimination, and so on. However, if people are HIV-positive, they may be separated from other people in their households so that they cannot be infected.

So by the time people begin to know that HIV is not spread by close contact, there are different ways we try to educate the public on how it is transmitted and how it can be prevented. We have been doing that through our community leaders, our traditional rulers, our religious leaders in the churches and mosques.

So, usually before prayer, they do some preaching in the mosque and we try from time to time to educate people about the danger of HIV disease. So, they try to give some messages about how HIV is transmitted, how it is prevented among married couples. A lot of work has been done on HIV-AIDS.

Also, a lot of progress has been made, but before, if somebody is HIV-positive, you would not be allowed to marry somebody who is HIV-negative, but with the creation of awareness and sensitization, even if somebody is positive, you can marry somebody that is negative with the pre-exposure prophylaxis that we have now in the country. So the person that is positive will be taking his own drugs and he will be allowed to marry somebody who is negative, as we will also have drugs to give to the person that is negative, so there will be no infection.

When the other person that is positive, his viral load is suppressed as it’s undetectable, it means that he cannot transmit the disease to the other person. So, at that point, the other person can stop the drug. So we have this ‘U equal U’ which means ‘Undetectable viral load means Untransmittable’.

So with that, our religious leaders know that you can actually marry discordant couples, as far as they have consented. All you need to do is to encourage the person that is positive to take his drugs so that his viral load will be suppressed while the person that is negative can start taking pre-exposure prophylaxis, and when his partner is well suppressed, then he can stop the pre-exposure prophylaxis.

 

What are the challenges the agency has been facing before and now?

The challenges before were that people looked at HIV as if it’s a death sentence. They didn’t want to come out because either they were afraid or they were ashamed that they would be stigmatized.

 

What is your advice to pregnant women on preventing mother-to-child transmission of the disease?

Well, my advice to pregnant women is that they should be screened for HIV. Once you are pregnant, go for antenatal, because, you know, we are working towards achieving epidemic control by 2030. It means that by 2030, we don’t want to have a new infection of HIV. Those that are positive, remain positive, they are on drugs, and their viral load is suppressed while those that are negative, should remain negative.

That’s where we are going. So we encourage pregnant women, we don’t want to have a child, a newborn child that will be HIV positive. We want our next generation to be free of HIV.

So, if you are pregnant, go for antenatal and you will be screened for HIV, hepatitis and syphilis. If you are positive, they will place you on drugs immediately and also when you deliver, your baby will be given post-exposure prophylaxis so that the baby will not be infected, and so that we can have a free HIV generation.

 

In monetary terms, how much has been earmarked to fight against this disease in the state?

You know, we do budget like any other ministry. Yes, we have budget allocation each year to fight HIV in the state for which anytime we write a memo to Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, he’s happy to approve the money. Even the activity to mark the 2024 World AIDS Day we got it from the state government.

We feel that journalists, too, give the right message outside and you have wider coverage because you can sit here and talk, you don’t know how many thousands of people are listening. So, there are different ways of reaching out to people. So, we are exploring all those ways to ensure that we achieve epidemic control by 2030.

 

How much has been spent so far on the fight against HIV/AIDS in the state?

I wouldn’t know, because I was not the first Executive Director of the Nasarawa State AIDS Control Agency, but for this year 2024 alone, we have over N200 million for HIV in Nasarawa State being approved by the state government to fight the menace of HIV.