By Damilola Olusola
The Anambra State AIDS Control Agency, ANSACA, has raised fresh concerns over the spread of HIV in the state, even as it deployed a new telehealth platform to tackle stigma, distance and other barriers limiting access to prevention, testing and treatment services.
The agency said the digital intervention would bring HIV services closer to residents and strengthen follow-up care for people living with the virus and those at risk of infection.
Executive Director and Project Manager of ANSACA, Dr Nkem Okeke, disclosed this in Awka during the launch of the telehealth platform and unveiling of the agency’s maiden newsletter.
Okeke said more than 2,500 people had been tested for HIV through community, motor-park, workplace and tertiary-institution outreaches since April, with those requiring further intervention linked to appropriate care facilities.
He said the new platform would enable residents to obtain confidential information, counselling and referrals without being constrained by geographical distance or fear of stigma.
“Testing is not the end. It is the beginning of a pathway to prevention, treatment and sustained care. Healthcare must not be limited by distance,” Okeke said.
The ANSACA boss said the newsletter contains links to the telehealth platform and information on about 176 primary healthcare centres providing HIV services across the state.
He said the platform would provide access to information, counselling and referrals for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), HIV testing, treatment adherence and other HIV-related services.
According to him, the initiative would connect community awareness and testing with telehealth support, referral, clinical intervention and retention in care.
“Callers will be assessed and directed to appropriate facilities and followed up to confirm access to the required services,” he said.
1,693-member HIV brigade deployed
Okeke also disclosed that ANSACA had strengthened its community response through a 1,693-member Ward HIV/AIDS Brigade covering the state’s 326 wards.
He said the agency had equally intensified HIV interventions in 27 tertiary institutions, targeting young people and other priority populations.
The Executive Director stressed that the telehealth initiative would complement, rather than replace, hospitals, doctors and the state’s existing telemedicine system.
He said the objective was to integrate HIV services into Anambra’s wider digital health ecosystem and make access to care more convenient.
In her keynote address, Professor Ifeoma Njelita said the digital intervention should move HIV services beyond a predominantly facility-based model to a more connected and community-centred system.
“Telehealth should be a service-delivery strategy, not a technological showcase,” Njelita said.
She said telehealth could support follow-up consultations, treatment-adherence counselling, PrEP and PEP counselling, referrals, specialist consultations and psychosocial support.
Njelita proposed an “Anambra Digital HIV Connect” built around digital HIV information, telehealth and teleconsultation, testing and referral, treatment adherence and retention, as well as data intelligence.
She, however, stressed the need for privacy, consent, cybersecurity, clinical governance and community participation in the deployment of digital HIV services.
According to her, digital tools should strengthen, rather than replace, the work of community health workers.
Soludo lauds initiative
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, who represented Governor Chukwuma Soludo at the event, commended ANSACA for deploying digital technology to expand access to HIV services.
Mefor said the telehealth platform would complement the state’s existing telemedicine programme and further reduce barriers to healthcare access.
Chairman of the occasion, Sir Izuchukwu Nwabueze, said the telehealth service and newsletter would improve communication, documentation and community engagement around HIV interventions.
He added that the initiative would also strengthen access to prevention, testing and care services.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Idemili North Local Government Area, Chief Stanley Nkwoka, urged residents to prioritise HIV prevention.
Nkwoka said avoiding behaviours that could expose individuals to the virus remained critical to reducing the burden of HIV in the state.
“Don’t contact HIV at all to avoid going for the treatment or management. If you don’t contact it, you will not be talking about its cure or management as we’re talking here today. So, the best option is to avoid anything that can lead to its contact,” he said.
The programme is part of Anambra’s 2026–2028 State Strategic Transformation and Sustainability Plan for HIV, which focuses on prevention, treatment, coordination and sustainability, particularly among young people and other priority populations.
The event also featured the unveiling of ANSACA’s maiden newsletter and goodwill messages from health-sector stakeholders, community leaders and organisations involved in HIV prevention and care.
