Professor of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba, Alani Akanmu, said there was the disruption of services during lockdown because it was not convenient at all for patients to access the services that were available due to the issue of transportation. He said that as a foremost institute, they had to keep in contact with patients through phone conversations and zoom and with support of a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) that established a drug collection centre for the members of the community.
Deputy Director of Prevention, Care and Treatment, Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), Dr. Helen Omuh, said due to the initial mitigation measures instituted by the government, access to HIV services by people living with HIV (PLHIV) was affected and most patients could not visit the health facilities for their drugs and laboratory tests due to movement restriction and fear of COVID 19.
She said that poor quality data and low capacity for data management had persisted despite improvement observed with the electronic medical records system. Good quality data is required to guide decisions, policies and research. Though the drugs are free, there may be some out of pocket expenses with the national health insurance system covering less than 10 per cent of the eligible population. Political commitment for sustained funding and effective co-ordination is also a crucial challenge in managing HIV,” she said.