The United States via the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from 2003 till date, has invested the sum of $85 billion in the global HIV/AIDS intervention initiative.
Through this intervention, over 20 million lives have been saved, all working in 54 countries.
In Nigeria, PEPFAR has invested over $6 billion in the national HIV/AIDS response, while some measures of success including, nearly 1.8 million, women, and children currently on HIV treatment in the country.
The US-CDC Country Director, Dr. Mary Boyd, disclosed this in Abuja at the close-out ceremony of the Faith-Based Action for Scaling Up Testing and Treatment for Epidemic Response project (FASTER),
Since 2019, Nigeria has nearly doubled the number of children and adolescents receiving life saving HIV treatment services.
Nigeria has also recorded rising percentage of children under nine years old who have achieved HIV viral suppression from 60 to 84 percent.
The project was implemented in collaboration with CDC Comprehensive HIV Service Delivery Implementing Partners, the Federal Government and other stakeholders in the FCT, Nasarawa, Benue, Lagos, Imo, Enugu, Delta and Rivers states, to catalyze priority interventions, especially for children and adolescents, towards improved HIV service delivery and health outcomes.
Dr. Boyd said, “In many ways, FASTER came to set the trend, to demonstrate that innovations in Pediatric HIV care and treatment are possible and that it can make a difference in saving lives.”
FASTER focused on reducing structural barriers to care, expanding innovation, and scaling up what works.
The CDC Country Director noted that the FASTER initiative delivered on its objectives and was instrumental on ensuring innovations in case-finding, such as caregiver-assisted HIV self-testing.
Dr. Boyd noted, “While significant progress has been made, we still have work to do. For example, estimates show that about 85,000 children living with HIV in Nigeria still do not have access to treatment. However, we now know those innovations and best practices that do work, and we are well on our way to ensuring equity in the care available for every child living with HIV.”
The Country Director expressed gratitude to the 100s of religious leaders who partnered with US-CDC and have become champions for the children’s health in their communities. “Such efforts will remain part of the history of Nigeria’s HIV epidemic control success story,” she added.
FASTER was funded through a US-CDC Headquarters co-operative agreement in 2019 with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS). In addition to Nigeria, the project was implemented in Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
US-CDC is one of the key implementing agencies of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The FASTER program exemplifies the ongoing efforts of the U.S. government to assist countries in achieving sustained epidemic control of HIV by supporting equitable health services and solutions, enduring national health systems and capabilities, and lasting collaborations.