Access to facilities for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, low –Expert

Despite the possibility of HIV transmission from mother to child being reduced to less than 1 per cent with new treatment modalities, no less than 85,450 babies born annually in Nigeria are still exposed to HIV at birth and 67,620 babies of HIV-infected mothers deprived of interventions that protect from contracting the virus.
Dr. Abiola Davies, an HIV/AIDS specialist with UNICEF stated this at the opening of a three-day meeting of the Journalists Alliance for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) held at Jos, Plateau State.
According to Dr. Davies, the magnitude of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Nigeria was still high and required all efforts being channeled at closing up the gap in the uptake of services; quality and efficiency of interventions and integration of programmes areas into HIV prevention and funding.
Dr. Davies expressed concern that despite Nigeria’s 670 PMTCT services outlets, access to treatments that ensure prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV was low, attributing this partly to the treatment centres majorly sited in tertiary hospitals, poor coordination,  private sector non-involvement and user fee charges.
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