‘Test kits, reason for inconsistency in HIV prevalence’

By Sade Oguntola
From left, Professor Gabriel Ogunmola and
Professor Afolayan Esan, Chiarman and Directo
r respectively of the Institute of Genetic Chemistry
and Laboratory Medicine at a training workshop
organised recently by the institute on appropriate
diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases in
Ibadan recently.

Professor David Olaleye, Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Services, University of Ibadan has said the discrepancy in Federal government’s number of HIV infected cases and the number of those seen daily in the hospitals could be due to the virus outsmarting the tools by mutation.

Prof. Olaleye, speaking at the Oyo state Civil Society on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN) lecture and fund raising said clear evidences indicate that the number of infected people are on the rise even though some are not detected because the changed form of the virus could not be picked with the HIV kits available.

According to him, “current virus has potency to change but the tool to measure the detect the virus remains the same and so those that have changed may not be picked. As a result we may have false HIV results. Evidences in the hospitals say more people are getting infected.”

The expert described HIV as a virus that has come to stay and with potentials to wipe off human race, stressing that factors such as unprotected sex, blood transfusion and stigmatization against person with the virus should be fought from all sides.

As a first step to preventing the spread of the virus, he said every individual should have HIV test every six months and be educated on what can cause infection, adding that all individuals realize that they at risk of either being infected or affected by the virus.

In a welcome address at the occasion by Oyo state commissioner for Health, Dr. Isaac Owolabi, said urged the civil society and nongovernmental organisations not to relent in addressing the challenges of HIV.

Alafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, a guest of honour at the occasion, added his voice to people being careful of sharing hair clippers and syringes and the need for students in higher institutions of learning to get tested for HIV regularly. He enjoined the body to extend their HIV interventions to rural communities and religious houses in order to achieve success in the fight against the virus.

The occasion, Pastor Tunji Agboola, the CisHAN coordinator was aimed at raising funds from the community to support programmes to check HIV/AIDS spread and control, especially in the rural communities of the state as well as have a secretariat for the organization where there will also be an integrated HIV/AIDS services like a youth friendly center and a library.

 

Outbreak of cholera, others imminent in Ibadan

By Seye Adeniyi

For people living around Ogunpa, Agbeni, Sakapena, and its environs to avoid the outbreak of water-borne diseases like cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever and skin diseases, they have to be cautious in the type of water they drink or use for other domestic purposes.

Investigation conducted by Tribune Health has revealed that residents living around Ogunpa river, whose channellisation has just been completed are now fond of going to the river to scoop the water oozing out from the concrete walls lining the river on both sides, an habit that has been seriously condemned by many experts who spoke with Tribune Health.

Since the completion of the Ogunpa river channellisation, many people, especially children, have been observed to be “fetching” water from the broken pipes inside the river, while young school children are always seen early in the morning drawing water oozing out from the concrete walls on both sides of the river, using long roped drawers.

Apart from exposing themselves to the danger of typhoid fever, cholera, and other water-borne diseases, such children are also at risk of being hit by the fast moving vehicles and motorcycles, which now ply the little tarred road constructed beside the river, which many commercial vehicles owners now use as a short cut to many other areas.

Commenting on the health implication of this unhygienic practice, all the experts who spoke with Tribune Health warned residents of this area to desist from such an habit, calling their attention to the danger involved, especially now that there are several outbreaks of diseases like cholera, dysentery, cerebrospinal meningitis and typhoid fever occuring in different parts of the country.