The Ogun State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OGSACA) has revealed that it has succeeded in halting the spread of the HIV epidemic in the state.
Director and Project Manager of the Agency, Dr. Kehinde Fatungase, who disclosed this in Abeokuta said this was in line with the MDG 6 target, revealing that the prevalence rate of HIS has come down from 12.6 percent (NARHS 2007) to 0.6 percent (NARHS 2-012) among the general population while the prevalence among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic is currently 3.1 percent from a peak of 3.5 percent in 2011.
Fatungase, who said the agency counselled and tested 21,915 persons for HIV, was speaking when members of the state House of Assembly Committee on Health paid an oversight visit to the agency in Abeokuta.
According to him, 33,363 people have also been placed on treatment just as 147 HIV positive pregnant women are placed on Anti-Retroviral prophylaxsis to Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT).
The director said the agency had consistently pursued its strategic goals of stemming the prevalence of HIV virus in the state, adding that the agency had also supported HIV/AIDS services in four Line Ministries, namely Ministries of Health, Education Science and Technology, Youths and Sports and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development as well as in 20 Local Government Areas of the State through the Local Action Committee on AIDS (LACA) Managers, under the World Bank Supported project.
The Committee Chairman, Hon. Akinpelu Aina commended the agency for ensuring that the HIV menace was reduced in the state, urging it not to relent in its responsibility of sensitising the public on the modes of transmission and prevention of the virus.