Sarah Negedu
Stakeholders in the health sector have emphasized the need for self-testing and Point-of-Care In-Vitro Diagnostics, POC IVDs, in enhancing disease diagnosis and control in Nigeria.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the African Health Project, Dr. Ali Onoja, empowering communities with self-testing and POC IVDs, can significantly enhance surveillance, diagnosis, treatment and prevention efforts.
Onoja who was speaking at a one day summit on community engagement in diagnosis of ATM and Hepatitis in Nigeria, highlighted the transformative potential of these tools in bridging healthcare gaps.
He said findings from the African Health Project’s operational research on the preferences and acceptability of blood-based and oral-based HIV self-testing in Nigeria revealed high acceptability and accuracy for both testing methods, with significant preference variations across different states.
He disclosed that, “key recommendations from the study include comprehensive education campaigns, enhanced training for healthcare workers, streamlined testing procedures, and increased accessibility and affordability of self-testing kits. These measures aim to bolster Nigeria’s healthcare system, ensuring it meets the needs of all Nigerians, especially the most at-risk and hard-to-reach populations.
“Let us harness the power of self-test and POC IVDs, alongside community engagement, to create a healthier, more resilient Nigeria. The summit underscored the collective commitment to advancing healthcare delivery and achieving global health targets.”
On his part, Ofutalu Nnamdi, Head of the In Vitro Diagnostics, IVD, Department at the Medical Lab Science Council of Nigeria and lab manager at the National Reference Laboratory in Yaba, Lagos, emphasized the necessity of quality test kits for effective disease diagnostics and surveillance.
“Our laboratory in Yaba is the National Reference Laboratory where all test kits, whether produced in Nigeria or imported, undergo rigorous validation testing for in-country use,” Nnamdi stated.
He stressed that for diseases of public health importance, it is crucial that the test kits used, whether for diagnostics or self-testing, meet stringent quality standards. “The regulatory body, Medical Lab Science Council of Nigeria, plays a vital role in this. We are here to highlight our commitment to quality and to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements,” he added.
He called on manufacturers and importers of IVDs to adhere strictly to regulatory standards and urged lab scientists, and those who own labs across Nigeria to ensure they procure test kits with the MLSCN IVD listing number, which serves as evidence of quality checks.
Also, Dr. Chigozie Ujam, Deputy Director of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, lauded the efforts of the African Health Project and other organizations in promoting HIV self-testing as part of the broader strategy to combat infectious diseases in Nigeria.
“As the government of Nigeria, our goal is to create enabling environments for initiatives like this. At NACA, our mandate is to ensure that we can get as many people on treatment as possible, starting with testing, keeping them on treatment, and achieving viral suppression.”
Dr. Ujam emphasized the importance of widespread testing in achieving the global 95-95-95 targets, which aim to ensure that 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those diagnosed receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 95% of those receiving therapy achieve viral suppression.
He highlighted the significant strides Nigeria has made in HIV treatment, stating, “We are ahead of the curve in terms of the 95-95-95 targets. We already hit that target. As of 2018, we had 1.6 million people on treatment, which is fantastic. Our prevalence rate has dropped from double figures, like 10%, to as low as 1.7% in some estimates. This is a remarkable achievement.”
