ANSACA Intensifies HIV Prevention, Unveils TeleHealth Initiative To Achieve Zero New Infections By 2030
By David Okpokwasili|Ichie News
The Executive Director of Anambra State AIDS Control Agency (ANSACA), Dr Nkem Okeke says the agency is intensifying HIV prevention efforts across the state through expanded community outreaches, digital innovation and strategic partnerships aimed at achieving zero new HIV infections by 2030.
Dr Okeke said to achieve this, the agency is set to launch telehealth services through dedicated agency hotlines, enabling residents to access HIV-related counselling and care from their homes or workplaces and revealed that plans are underway for a statewide market outreach campaign as part of efforts to expand access to HIV prevention services.
The Executive Director who unveiled these plans while speaking to the ABS immediately after the monthly review meeting of the agency in Awka, also disclosed that the draft workplace HIV policy has been concluded and is awaiting stakeholder review before being forwarded to the governor for approval.
He said ANSACA has strengthened preventive interventions through statewide community outreaches, including park campaigns and moonlight HIV testing targeted at key population hotspots, digitisation of data collection and management system to improve data retrieval, planning and implementation of intervention strategies, and establishment of a HIV Awareness Brigade with over 1600 members across the state’s 326 wards, with plans for their inauguration by Governor Soludo as part of efforts to deepen grassroots awareness and community participation.
Dr Okeke expressed appreciation to Governor Soludo for his administration’s political support and commitment to HIV response, describing it as critical to the agency’s successes while calling on corporate organisations, development partners and high-net-worth individuals to invest in HIV prevention, stressing that the disease is not only a public health concern but also an economic and developmental issue.
The monthly review meeting featured technical sessions where various units in the agency assessed activities carried out in the previous month and outlined programmes for the coming weeks.
