GHAIN Records Nearly 5,000 ART Clients in Less Than a Year
MARCH 2006 — After less than one year, GHAIN has exceeded its target of delivering ART to 4,540 people in 2005 by nearly 400 clients. In the 10 secondary health facilities in the country, 4,934 HIV-infected people have received antiretroviral drugs. This includes 322 children, 259 pregnant women and 467 others with advanced infections.
Karen Kasan, the program team leader, called this a "truly remarkable achievement," and added, "Not only have they met those targets one month before the end of the reporting year, but they have met those targets in just nine months from when … funds were received."
GHAIN collaborated closely with the Government of Nigeria at both the federal and state levels. It also ensured that the services complied with the national guidelines and tools. GHAIN has been supporting secondary sites, where no comprehensive ARV services were provided at the beginning of the project. One of the key lessons GHAIN has learned to date is that ART can be delivered effectively at secondary sites in Nigeria.
To meet Nigeria's overall goal of reaching 250,000 people, comprehensive ARV services at secondary sites and primary health care centers need to be scaled up. Plans are underway to establish 18 new secondary sites to begin delivery of comprehensive ARV services in 2007. The program has also benefited from the recent opening of a GHAIN-assisted Christian Health Association of Nigeria (CHAN) ART site at St. Mary's Catholic Hospital, Gwagwalada, among several other ART sites.
U.S. First Lady Laura Bush visited St. Mary's Catholic Hospital and announced the arrival of an initial shipment of antiretroviral drugs. She made the announcement at a ceremony where she unveiled a plaque at the hospital's new laboratory and talked with health care workers and HIV-positive patients.
Photo: U.S. First Lady Laura Bush in a group discussion with PLHA. (PAS-U.S. Embassy, Nigeria)
