The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) says that 6,000 children in Kaduna State may contract the deadly disease, HIV in 2019 if elimination of Mother-To-Child Transmission (eMTCT) of HIV interventions are not enforced.
The Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna, Zakari Adam, made this statement at a one-day meeting in Kaduna on Monday. The said meeting was organised for the wives of local government chairmen in the state to give feedback on the level of enforcement of 2018 demand creation activities on eMTCT of HIV.
Mr Adam said that Kaduna State is among the four states in the country being assisted by UNICEF to lead eMTCT by 2020 and put an end to adolescent AIDS pandemic by 2030.
According to Mr Adam, the state had recorded an increase in eMTCT coverage from 16% in 2012 to 66% in 2017, but it still undergo some major challenges such as low antenatal care response and hospital delivery.
He also said that the state was equally struggling on how to create awareness about the benefits of eMTCT and the provision of quality human resources for better health services.
In a statement, Mr Adam said, "Presently, there are 6,000 babies at the risk of contracting HIV infection in 2019 if suitable and innovative eMTCT interventions are not fully enforced.
"This meeting therefore, is an avenue to expose all the eMTCT challenges with a view to engaging in proactive measures to tackle them."
No comments:
Post a Comment