ACHIEVING 95:95:95 TARGET; ABSACA INTENSIFIES EFFORTS
As part of effort to attain its statutory mandate of controlling the prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the State, the Abia State Agency for the Control of AIDS (ABSACA) has intensified its efforts to achieve 95:95:95 target. The 95:95:95 target is a strategy aimed at making sure that at least 95% of all Abians are tested for HIV and receive results; 95% of all those who tested positive are linked to treatment and care, and 95% of the viral load suppression achieved.
One of the ways of achieving this goal was by organizing a one day orientation meeting for all the Local Government Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (LACA) teams in the Seventeen Local Government Areas of the State. The orientation, which was held at The Rapha Hotels Umuahia, was used to widen the scope of their knowledge about the 95:95:95 target.
Speaking at the orientation programme, the project Manager and Executive Secretary of the State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Dr. Ajike Eme Kalu charged all the Local Government Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (LACA) teams in the Seventeen Local Government Areas to remain focused in the fight to achieve Zero infections of HIV/AIDS in the State.
The objective of the training which was done through a Power point presentation, was to empower the LACA members to demonstrate thorough understanding of State Action Committee on Aids (SACA) implementation process at the end and to strengthen the capacity of LACAs to organize and facilitate sensitization and outreaches on HIV/AIDS in LGAs before the end of the year as well as to give the LACA Team members the opportunity to interact with SACA Staff, ensuring an effective and efficient service delivery in their respective LGAs in the next one year. Training this team of LACA Managers & the desk officers as well as Monitoring & Evaluation Officers and Procurement officers is timely especially now since 95:95:95 is a target that would be achieved by the end of 2020.
Bearing in mind that the ABSACA targets at providing a comprehensive information about the scourge to the 95% of the people in the State, the Agency also embarks on door to door campaign in the State. This agressive campaigns have taken the Agency through various channels to reach out to the people.
The aim of the door to door campaign is to have a robust one-on-one interactions with the people in the various communities which will in turn help change their negative perception about HIVAIDS. It is important to note that controlling the prevalence of the disease requires adequate and one-on-one counseling hence the need to embark on the door to door campaign.
The Agency maintains that besides counseling and testing, 95% of people who are infected by the disease are referred for proper care. This will go a long way in getting people more aware of the prevalence of HIVAIDS and subsequently help in reducing the spread by 95% by the year 2020.
At this juncture, it will be deserving to commend the Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu for his sustainability in funding the Agency. The governor has not relented in making sure that ABSACA gets the necessary funds that will enable it carry out enough sensitisation of the disease to Abia people and as such meet it’s 95:95:95 target is achieved by the year 2020.
Also, Dr. Kalu and his management team deserves some accolades for ensuring that the dreams and aspirations of the present administration in the state is actualized.
UNU,
20/09/2019