ICT Missing as HIV/AIDs Kills Nigerians

After the initial denial, the reality of the dreaded HIV/AIDS virus is staring Nigerians in the face as the disease continues to decimate the most active segments of the population with no cure in sight, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can now reveal.
As Nigerians fret over the exponential growth of the HIV/AIDS virus, there is still no conscious effort to use technology to support rapid scale up in the disease care and treatment programmes.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek findings came on the heels of disclosure by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (Naca) that the country recorded more than 280, 000 HIV and AIDS-related deaths in 2008 and more than 350,000 fresh cases were also recorded in the country during the period.
The national HIV and AIDS prevalence rate is put at 4.6 per cent representing a fall from the 5 per cent of a similar survey conducted in 2003.
Even with the drop from the survey conducted over six years, the number of Nigerians infected with the virus that causes AIDS would continue to rise sharply over the next five years unless there is deliberate attempt to diffuse and use ICT in the management of the disease.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that health authorities can increase the number of people on anti-retroviral drugs (ARV) by simply riding on Nigeria’s robust telecom infrastructure.
Using the same infrastructure, health authorities can also create an electronic care record for every individual on treatment which will in turn give clinicians, laboratories and programme managers tools to better manage individual cases.