Concerns and fears have heightened over the gradual spike in the number of pregnant women who tested positive to Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Lagos State.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, recently revealed that at least 2, 131 pregnant women have tested positive to HIV, while 3, 876 children were placed under Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) within the last one year.
Asides fears that the deadly disease could be experiencing a resurgence, stakeholders are worried about the downslide in funds for HIV programmes, as most donors have pulled out, and there is little or no provision in the national and state budgets to battle the scourge.
Consequently, not more than one-third of pregnant women and children living with the virus are receiving treatment.
Lagos State Key Performance HIV Indicators for 2015 to 2017 made available to The Guardian by the National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA), showed that more women are getting tested for HIV in the state, just as more are receiving ARV through the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme.
Stakeholders are concerned that rising HIV infection figures are still being recorded, especially among pregnant mothers in a state like Lagos, with reasonable level of health awareness and budgetary allocation. They worry that if Lagos records such a surge, the situation in other states could be pathetic.
