By Ndidi Chukwu
Envision Global Care Foundation has called on the government and development partners in Nigeria to increase awareness on Mother to Child transmission of HIV and AIDs.
The call was made during the weekend at Kabusa Internally Displaced Persons Camp Abuja, during its outreach in commemoration of the 2017 World AIDs Day.
The charity said Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV provides better opportunity towards total elimination of the virus.
“HIV and AIDs awareness messages can never be enough until we have eliminated this virus in Nigeria and the World,” said Diana Eyo Enette programme director at Envision.
“If we have to talk about elimination and prevention our focus should be on women of child bearing age who are living with HIV, they need to know that they can have negative babies despite their positive status, this is the message we have for the women on this year’s World AIDs Day. We teach them how to have HIV-negative babies.”
She said the free screening and counselling program of the organization in all IDP camps in the FCT is to support the government to reach out to IDPs and ensure they are aware and protected against the disease.
“We chose the IDP camps because they are where you find the less privileged group in our society, they need all the support they can get to survive. Sexual relationships happen here with little or no ways of preventing HIV and STI transmission, so we encourage them to learn best ways to prevent transmission,” said Eyo-Enoette.
The IDP camp houses mostly young women and teenage girls, who are sexually active and in the prime of their reproductive life.
