By Asma’u Ahmad
The Nigeria HIV and AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) has assured the public of utmost confidentiality during the National AIDS and Hepatitis survey commencing from June 18.
Dr Adebobola Bashorun, Director, Advocacy Communication and Social Mobilisation of NAIIS, said this to Newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja. Bashorun said that all information that would be collected from respondents would be treated with privacy in line with international standard practice.
“Each state in each geo-political zone would be captured at the same time and it will run concurrently in all the states, till the end of the survey, which will last for six months. “Our team would go from house-to-house and I can assure you that nobody would be put under compulsion to answer.
“They will be on customised T-shirts, faze-caps, hijabs, with the Federal Ministry of Health logo and an inscription of NAIIS on them, as well as their identity cards. “To assure Nigerians of the level of confidentiality in this survey, any household that accepts to be surveyed would be taken to a private location in their homes, where interviews and tests would be conducted.
“In fact, your names will not be needed for this survey, as most of the data will be collected using computer-generated codes. “These codes cannot be linked to an individual; neither can it be linked to any household. “Once an individual tests positive for HIV or Hepatitis B or C, such individuals will be linked to appropriate health institutions for immediate treatment,’’ he said.
He added that community leaders as well as religious leaders had been reached out to in order to disseminate the importance of the survey to their people. Bashorun, however, urged Nigerians not to be scared to partake in the survey.
Newsmen report that on May 10, the Federal Government and U.S. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the National HIV and AIDS Indicator and Impact Assessment Survey scheduled to start from June.
The Minister of Health, Dr Isaac Adewole, Director-General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Sani Aliyu and the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Stuart Symington, signed the agreement in Abuja.
According to them, the MoU seeks to determine the true distribution of HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis B and C in the country. As part of the agreement, the U.S. government will provide adequate resources to end the epidemic before 2030.
