The PACT Nigeria, an international NGO, on Friday said it has tested and counselled more than 50,000 pregnant women on HIV in Bayelsa in the last four years.
The NGO’s Country Director, Dr Amina Ahmed-Shehu, disclosed this in Yenagoa during the official closing ceremony of a four-year programme of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PROMOT) of the HIV virus in Bayelsa.
Ahmed-Shehu explained that the test and counselling were conducted at the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) facilities in the state.
Ahmed-Shehu said the PROMOT Project, sponsored by Chevron Nigeria, started in September 2012 and ended in March.
“During the PROMOT project, we worked with Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) to increase awareness of the effectiveness of PMTCT services through mentoring and support for HIV-positive pregnant women.
“We trained 22 HIV positive pregnant women to serve as role model in their communities. These women encourage their peers to get tested and receive treatment when necessary,” he said.
Mr Deji Heastrup, the General Manager, Public Affairs Department, Chevron Nigeria, said the programme was part of the company’s efforts to improve healthcare and reduce the spread of HIV.
Heastrup, who was represented by Mr Sunday Okegberniro, Co-ordinator, Corporate Responsibilities and National Programmes, said that Chevron was ready to sponsor and support any programme aimed at growing the state’s health sector.
Also speaking, Mr Solomon Oemuyide, Monitoring Evaluation Research and Learning Officer, PROMOT project, said the programme had touched the people positively.
“With the project, over 693 positive pregnant women were known to be on antiretroviral drug in Bayelsa.
“The number of people reached with PMTCT education message within the four years is 294,480 and over 670 health workers were trained in state-of-the-art PMTCT approaches at community level.
“The project, however, witness some challenges. In the course of our innovations, we suffered inadequate staffing among others in most of the centres in Bayelsa,” Oemuyide.
Dr Wakiente Omubo, Director of Public Health, Bayelsa Ministry of Health, commended the PMTCT activities in the state, describing it as a welcome development.
Omubo stressed the need to take health matters seriously, pledging that the state will continually work in partnership with donor agencies to improve the health needs of the people.
