Akwa Ibom launches ART impact survey to measure success of HIV programmes

The Akwa Ibom State Government has launched the Antiretroviral state-level Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) impact survey to measure the success of its HIV programmes as part of the significant health initiative to improve the well-being of the people.

The information to be collected from the survey will equally help to understand how many persons who have HIV in the state have been identified, how many of those identified are already receiving lifesaving drugs and out of those receiving drugs how many of them have reduced the amount of HIV in their blood so much that they cannot infect another person.

Augustine Umoh, Commissioner for Health stated at a press conference to mark the launch of the survey which was attended by health experts and partners involved in HIV response in the state.

Umoh said the survey would measure population-based HIV treatment coverage, which he said would involve assessing the proportion of individuals living with HIV who are receiving lifesaving antiretroviral therapy.

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Umoh, a professor of medicine, said the survey would determine the prevalence of viral load suppression to help understand the percentage of individuals on HIV treatment who have achieved viral load reduction.

According to him, the data to be collected will provide “valuabe insights that will inform the health policies and strategies to enhance HIV testing, treatment and care services in Akwa Ibom state and will provide information on the current levels of treatment coverage and viral load suppression and help identify gaps and areas that need improvement, thereby ensuring that our citizens receive the best possible care.’’

He explained that during the survey, an eight-member field teams of healthcare professionals would visit households to collect information through interviews and offer HIV counselling and testing with rapid tests kits adding that the test results would be provided before the team leaves the house

“Our goal is to control and end the HIV epidemic in Akwa Ibom State. The ART impact survey is a crucial step towards achieving this goal which is in line with the 2030 global goal of ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat,’’ he said.

The survey which is to be conducted between August and September will see only males or females who are between the ages of 15-64 years interviewed and it will involve 3,000 households across all the 31 local government areas of the state during which about 5,346 persons would be interviewed.

He thanked the Federal Government and other partners for the support towards the launch of the survey.