HIV/AIDS: Federal Government Inaugurates Operational Guidelines For HIV Self Testing - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (J.T)
April 13, 2019
The Federal Government has inaugurated theOperational Guideline for HIV self-testing and the Evaluation Report of AlereHIV Combo Rapid Test Kit towards ending HIV/AIDS as a public health challengein Nigeria.
The Minister of Health Isaac Adewole who inauguratedthe documents in Abuja, noted that in Nigeria, just like in many countries,detection of specific antibodies in the blood or other body fluids was the mainmethod and standard procedure for diagnosis of HIV infection.
He said prior to this time, several uncontrolled HIVtest kits especially rapid test kits were used in Nigeria without any regard toquality or following any appropriate testing strategy.
This, the Minister said, increased the possibilityof misdiagnosis of HIV infections, stressing that the ministry considered thisunacceptable and thus embarked on appropriate evaluation of HIV rapid testkits.
Adewole said Nigeria has conducted some rounds ofevaluation of HIV rapid test kits using the World Health Organisation, WHOguidelines for appropriate evaluation of HIV Testing Technologies in Africa.