Abuja, 28 June, 2016 - Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has prompted the National AIDS and STIs Control Program (NASCP) of Nigeria to quickly adapt the World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 ‘treat all’ guidelines. The Minister gave the directive during a 3-day meeting in Abuja which ended on 25 June, 2016. The kernel of the adaptation aims to quickly align the country’s protocols to WHO revised standards towards the 2020 global targets.

“Nigeria has progressively aligned its HIV response, to international standards with revision/adaptation of her national health services delivery guidelines every time there are major recommendation or changes according to  WHO guidelines”, the Minister noted.

Nigeria with an estimated 170 million people, has the second highest HIV burden estimated at 3.4 million people living with HIV. It has made some progress with 853,992 persons on Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) by end of 2015 as well as reaching over 96% of pregnant women who presented at antenatal care with HIV testing services.

The Director of Public Health in the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Dr Evelyn Ngige who conveyed the minister’s directive to participants at the meeting, urged national stakeholders to proportionately debate with the intent of adapting the WHO 2016 guidelines for the revised 2016 integrated national guidelines.

In a similar contribution, Dr Meg Doherty, the HIV coordinator in WHO, Geneva indicated that the 2016 guidelines are built around WHO recommendations released in 2015, recommending ART initiation in all HIV populations irrespective of CD4 count. These recommendations have resulted in having WHO guidelines to be in harmony with those of Western Europe and United States of America

The UNAIDS Country Director, Dr Bilali Camara who spoke on behalf of the UN system in Nigeria stated the importance of fast-tracking the realization of ‘test and start’ protocol towards the country’s 90-90-90 attainment commitments and elimination of HIV by 2030. 

Other stakeholders, including key federal and states government officials, development partners, PEPFAR, Clinton Health Access Initiative, the academia, chairpersons of national HIV technical working groups for HTS, ART, PMTCT and peaditric HIV; private sector health services/technologies providers, civil society and the media attended the meeting.

At the  end of the meeting, majority of the recommendations contained in WHO 2016 guidelines were either adopted or adapted for the country. 

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For further information, please contact:

Dr Rex Mpazanje: +234 803 960 0874; Email:  %20mpazanjer [at] who.inttarget="_blank"
Dr Oluwafunke Ilesanmi: +234 903 722 8596; Email:  ilesanmio [at] who.int

Below:

01 (L-R) Prof Carles Uwakwe(, Prof Suliaman Akanmu,  Dr Evelyn Ngige, Dr Bilali Camara,  Dr Dorothy Mboringacha, Dr Meg Doherty; Dr Rex Mpazanje, and Prof Shittu.

02 Stakeholders and participants at the meeting