By Becky John
The United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and Airtel have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to allow subscribers benefit from text messages on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV services in Nigeria. Charles Jjuuko, Media and Communications Adviser, UNAIDS Nigeria, said this in a statement made available to news men on Wednesday in Abuja.
It said the MoU would allow the Airtel subscriber’s access to information on how and where to access prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV services in the country. It said that the partnership will further bolster similar partnership existing between National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), other government departments and the Civil Society.
The statement added that the synergy was aimed at boosting Nigeria’s efforts at eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV. “Nigeria represented 30 per cent of the burden of mother-to-child transmission of HIV globally, although new scientific evidence indicates the target to have zero new HIV infections among children is achievable,” it said.
