The Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) reports significant progress in Rivers State’s Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, achieving more than 95 per cent HIV testing acceptance among pregnant women between 2020 and 2023.
Dr Stanley Idakwo, Project Director of the Rivers ASPIRE Project at IHVN, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday, noting that the achievement reflected years of strategic community engagement and consistent peer mentorship efforts.
Idakwo said data from the District Health Information System (DHIS) indicated that HIV testing among pregnant women had remained between 95 and 100 per cent since 2020, following intensive counseling and mentorship.
“This achievement is largely driven by effective counselling, strong peer support, and the mentor mother model that encourages adherence and emotional support.
“About 98.6 per cent of clients also expressed satisfaction with PMTCT services,” he said.
However, Idakwo acknowledged challenges remained.
“Around 31.7 per cent of women cite distance to facilities as a barrier, 20.1 per cent mention transportation costs, and 16.5 per cent report long waiting times,” he noted.
He explained that those challenges were being mitigated through task-sharing among healthcare workers, improved case management, and integration of PMTCT with broader maternal and child health services across the state.
“Improved staff attitude and shorter waiting times have encouraged more women to seek antenatal care, ensuring better access to HIV testing and follow-up treatment for both mothers and their babies,” Idakwo added.
He emphasised that although maternal and infant ARV prophylaxis had reduced HIV transmission, uptake of follow-up services like facility-based deliveries and antiretroviral used during labour still needed improvement.
“To address this, we’re strengthening health workers’ capacity, improving drug supply chains, and ensuring mentor mothers and midwives jointly monitor pregnant women through delivery and the postnatal period.
“IHVN is also collaborating with the Rivers State Ministry of Health to expand PMTCT services closer to communities and improve access for women in hard-to-reach rural and riverine areas.
“With PEPFAR-CDC and Global Fund support, we’ve trained more than 400 Traditional Birth Attendants across 319 wards, linking them to 115 facilities under a hub-and-spoke service delivery model,” he said.
Idakwo said continuous training for counsellors, expansion of PMTCT coverage to more primary healthcare centres, and enhanced safety for healthcare workers were key strategies for sustaining the recorded progress.
“Our ultimate goal is to ensure no child in Rivers State is born with HIV. Every pregnant woman deserves quality, stigma-free healthcare regardless of her location or social status,” he affirmed.
He added that the IHVN Rivers ASPIRE Project would continue strengthening community partnerships and supporting Nigeria’s goal of eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission through sustained innovation and collaboration.
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