Ogun State has embarked on a significant initiative to integrate HIV, TB and other infectious diseases into a unified health system across all healthcare facilities. This endeavor is in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and APIN.
Ogun State Commissioner for Health Dr. Tomi Coker, made this known during a leadership stakeholder's meeting in her office at Oke-Mosan, explained that the HIV response in Ogun State had undergone a strategic transition from donor-driven vertical programme to integrated government-led health system.
Dr. Coker, emphasised that the integration was a pivotal step towards realising a comprehensive and responsive healthcare system, aimed to reduce duplication of efforts and improve service delivery efficiency, saying this shift aligned with the national directives of Federal Ministry of Health through National AIDS and STI Control Programme in a Sector-Wide Approach, expressing gratitude to CDC and APIN for their longstanding support.
Also Speaking, State AIDS, STI and Viral Hepatitis Programme Coordinator, Dr. Esther Oguntayo, expounded on the integration strategy, which was anchored on Structural, workforce and strategic integration which primarily involve embedding HIV, TB and Other Infectious disease service into routine outpatient services, such as OPD and GOPD, stressing that it was operationalised through a 'one-step' service delivery model, where patients would receive comprehensive care at a single service point.
She explained that the essence of the approach adopted was to reduce fragmentation, minimise patient movement within facilities and improve service efficiency.
She added that there would be training and mentorship of health workers, task shifting and sharing, with harmonisation of staff roles and responsibilities.
In his remarks, the team lead CDC, Dr. Jerry Gwamna, assured the Commissioner of their continued support, saying that their primary concern was the sustainability of the integration, hence their visit was to assess the status of facilities and ensure that the State would independently address related challenges in the future.
Dr. Gwamna affirmed that the agency would support capacity building for existing workforce to address knowledge gap and also provide financial support to integrate HIV records into the existing electronic health records.