The Servicom unit of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS on Wednesday embarked on a service delivery and compliance evaluation of HIV services in Abia.
The NACA team, joined by the Abia State Agency for Control of AIDS and the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) team, visited different health facilities in the state.
They jointly checked the strength and gaps in service delivery, identified the gaps in care giving and evaluated clients’ satisfaction of services provided.
The facilities visited included the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) unit at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia and Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy Hospital, Ahaeke, Umuahia amongst others.
Speaking to newsmen, Dr Stella Agbim, Head Servicom Unit, Special Duties, NACA, said that the process was intended to boost service optimisation and client satisfaction.
Agbim said that the one-week exercise, which commenced on Monday in the state, was sequel to the agency’s commitment to maintain a vibrant and optimised service delivery.
She said that the objective was to ascertain the quality of service delivery in the treatment of HIV and assess equality and market related attributes associated with its treatment in the country.
According to her, the exercise is to help in documenting findings and make recommendations for improved and optimised service delivery in the country.
Agbim said that Abia and Taraba were chosen as pilot states for the exercise that would be carried out across the country in 2021.
She expressed worry about the challenges of service delivery in Abia, given that the state facilities were on strike.
She said, “To this effect, NACA Servicom executed a planned service delivery and compliance evaluation of HIV services in Abia and Taraba states to run in the same line.
“It is a general evaluation of service given, service uptake and service delivery.
“The team visiting the states evaluated selected NACA’s Comprehensive AIDS Programmes with states supported facilities in Abia and will do the same in Taraba as these states are used as pilot states for the evaluation.”
Some members of the evaluation team were Dr Miriam Ezekwe, South East Zonal Co-ordinator, NACA; Nnenna Egwonwu, Senior Programme Manager, NACA and Dr Kelechi Omende, ART Focal Person, SPIU, among others.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Abia, with 2.1 per cent, is among the top 10 states with HIV prevalence in the country, according to the latest statistics by NACA.