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Organisation Donates HIV Self-Testing Kits To 255 Adolescents Youths In Kaduna—Eagles Lead initiative, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) on Friday donated HIV self-testing kits to 255 persons in Yelwa community of Kaduna State.

The Executive Director of the organisation, Mr Peter Ezekiel told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), shortly after the presentation of the kits in Kaduna, that the donation was part of efforts to increase sensitisation of HIV/Aids and reduce the scourge amongst adolescents.

Newsmen reports that the beneficiaries were mostly Kaduna polytechnic students, adolescents and youths.

HIV Self-Testing Kits

Organisation Donates HIV Self-Testing Kits To 255 Adolescents Youths In Kaduna

Ezekiel said the NGO discovered that many people do not know their HIV status and thus have higher chances of contracting and infecting others with the virus as they continue to socialise.

He said the HIV self-testing kits would scale up case finding and accelerate early diagnosis of persons thereby they could quickly access treatment.

“To achieve HIV/AIDS epidemic control, Eagles Lead initiative is committed to ensuring all ages, genders, and at-risk populations know their HIV status, receive life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services, and, for those living with HIV, achieve viral suppression.

“This means focusing on quality, inclusive, client-centered care – meeting patients where they are with what they need – to improve access, retention, and outcomes,’’ Ezekiel said,

He said that the HIV self-testing (HIVST) kits provides young people with a convenient, discreet, and empowering way to know their HIV status.

According to him, HIV testing is a key entry point to HIV prevention and treatment and efforts to achieve the first 95 per cent of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Ezekiel said that the initiative was aimed at 95 per cent of people living with HIV know their status by 2030.

“In 2016, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended HIV self-testing, as an alternative to traditional HIV testing services (HTS) given its potential to expand HIV testing access to the hardest to reach population.

“Hard to reach population include young people who are at risk for or with an undiagnosed HIV infection who may not otherwise receive testing from conventional services,” the director said.

He said HIV self-testing (HIVST) allows individuals to collect their sample (either oral- or blood-based), conduct the test, and interpret the results privately or with someone that they trust.

“More recently, HIVST was incorporated into the revised National HIV and AIDS strategic framework 2019–2021, as a priority policy and programmatic approach to HIV response in Nigeria.

“Despite compelling evidence on the beneficial effects of HIVST, HIVST uptake remains limited among Nigerian youth, raising concerns about missed opportunities to actively engage this population.

“Consequently, it is vital to understand young people’s preferences for HIVST, including factors that may facilitate or hinder uptake in Nigeria,’’ Ezekiel said

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#WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak In Congo over

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#WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak In Congo over

#WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak In Congo over—-The latest outbreak of the Ebola disease in Congo has officially been declared over, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday.

The organisation said that the outbreak affected the north-western Équateur province, with the first case recorded there on April 23.

It said that in total, there were four confirmed cases and one suspected case, all patients died of the disease.

In a previous outbreak in the province between June and November 2020, a total of 130 cases were detected and 55 people died.

However, the latest outbreak was the 14th recorded in the country of 90 million since 1976.

Between 2014 and 2016, the largest-ever outbreak of the disease took place in West Africa with more than 11,000 deaths.

Ebola infection often leads to high fever and internal bleeding, and is life-threatening

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JUST IN: Anambra Confirms First #Monkeypox Virus Case [DETAILS]

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Anambra Confirms First #Monkeypox Virus Case

JUST IN: Anambra Confirms First #Monkeypox Virus Case [DETAILS]—The Anambra State Government says that one out of the two suspected cases of monkeypox reported in the state has been confirmed positive.

Dr Afam Obidike, the state’s Commissioner for Health, made the disclosure at a news conference in Awka on Thursday.

Mr Obidike said that the state had been on alert mode following the report of the disease early this year across some states in the country.

According to him, the state emergency preparedness and response team put all the relevant surveillance measures in place toward ending the spread of the outbreak.

“Few weeks ago, two suspected cases of monkeypox were reported in Anambra East, Onitsha and Oyi Local Government Areas (LGAs), out of which the case from Anambra East LGA was confirmed positive.

“The case is currently at the isolation centre of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where he is receiving treatment and recovering.

“In light of the above, Gov. Charles Soludo immediately declared the incident an outbreak and an emergency preparedness and response committee meeting was convened on Wednesday.

“The meeting was attended by relevant stakeholders including the World Health Organisation (WHO) team and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). They are providing necessary assistance to the state.

“Planning for immediate response to the outbreak and surveillance, laboratory, case management, risk communication and community engagement, infection prevention and control and safe burial pillars, were activated,” he said.

Mr Obidike said that the state government had commenced the training of health personnel and response officers on enhanced active case search, sample collections and monkeypox management as well as intensify public awareness.

He urged residents not to panic and report to the hospital for proper examination whenever they notice rashes on their skin.

“Once it is established at the hospital, the patient will be taken to our isolation centres for treatment. We have activated all our Isolation centres in the state,” he said

Also speaking, Dr Adamu Abdulnasir, Anambra state Coordinator, WHO, said the organisation would support the state in terms of outbreak response and surveillance and capacity building.

“Since we heard about the two suspected cases, WHO has supported in the areas of sample collection and taking the sample to the laboratory.

“When the results came out, we carried out contact tracing as well as case and risk management.

“In Nigeria so far, we have recorded 41 cases of monkeypox with one death. The government is taking proactive measures to bring this outbreak to a stop and sensitise people on how to prevent and protect themselves,” he said.

Monkeypox is an uncommon disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the orthopoxvirus genus in the poxviridae family.

(NAN)—

The Anambra State Government says that one out of the two suspected cases of monkeypox reported in the state has been confirmed positive.

Dr Afam Obidike, the state’s Commissioner for Health, made the disclosure at a news conference in Awka on Thursday.

Mr Obidike said that the state had been on alert mode following the report of the disease early this year across some states in the country.

According to him, the state emergency preparedness and response team put all the relevant surveillance measures in place toward ending the spread of the outbreak.

“Few weeks ago, two suspected cases of monkeypox were reported in Anambra East, Onitsha and Oyi Local Government Areas (LGAs), out of which the case from Anambra East LGA was confirmed positive.

“The case is currently at the isolation centre of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where he is receiving treatment and recovering.

“In light of the above, Gov. Charles Soludo immediately declared the incident an outbreak and an emergency preparedness and response committee meeting was convened on Wednesday.

“The meeting was attended by relevant stakeholders including the World Health Organisation (WHO) team and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). They are providing necessary assistance to the state.

“Planning for immediate response to the outbreak and surveillance, laboratory, case management, risk communication and community engagement, infection prevention and control and safe burial pillars, were activated,” he said.

Mr Obidike said that the state government had commenced the training of health personnel and response officers on enhanced active case search, sample collections and monkeypox management as well as intensify public awareness.

He urged residents not to panic and report to the hospital for proper examination whenever they notice rashes on their skin.

“Once it is established at the hospital, the patient will be taken to our isolation centres for treatment. We have activated all our Isolation centres in the state,” he said

Also speaking, Dr Adamu Abdulnasir, Anambra state Coordinator, WHO, said the organisation would support the state in terms of outbreak response and surveillance and capacity building.

“Since we heard about the two suspected cases, WHO has supported in the areas of sample collection and taking the sample to the laboratory.

“When the results came out, we carried out contact tracing as well as case and risk management.

“In Nigeria so far, we have recorded 41 cases of monkeypox with one death. The government is taking proactive measures to bring this outbreak to a stop and sensitise people on how to prevent and protect themselves,” he said.

Monkeypox is an uncommon disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the orthopoxvirus genus in the poxviridae family.

(NAN)

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