Anambra State Govt Enrolls 200 HIV Patients Into State Health Insurance Scheme

Anambra state Commissioner for Health Dr Afam Obidike says the state government has enrolled two hundred persons living with HIV into the Anambra state Health Insurance Scheme.

Dr. Obidike disclosed this during a press briefing organized by the Anambra State AIDS Control Agency (ANSACA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and partners to commemorate 2022 World AIDS Day held in Awka.

HIV/AIDS is one of the diseases of public importance. Its transmission from person to person is through body fluids during heterosexual sex, mother to child during pregnancy, labor and delivery, breast feeding, blood transfusion and risky sexual behaviours, among others.

According to Dr. Obidike, Anambra is one of the states in Nigeria with a very high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and the high prevalence indicates that more people in the state are being tested on a daily basis.

He revealed that the Anambra state government has increased the HIV treatment sites in the state from one hundred and four to one thousand and seventeen in the last eight months.

Dr. Obidike maintained that in limiting some of the challenges faced by people living with HIV/AIDS, the state government has enrolled two hundred people living with HIV into the Anambra state Health Insurance Scheme.

According to him, the HIV self-testing kit is available for people who do not want to be tested outside, and that the State government is working tirelessly to educate people on what they need to know about the disease, how to prevent it, among others.