By Moses Emorinken, Abuja
To boost the knowledge level of persons living with HIV, particularly about their financial and human rights when accessing services at hospitals, the Federal Government in collaboration with the Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN) has launched the Patient Education and Empowerment Project (PEEP).
The PEEP, which will be implemented in three phases across the country, will protect persons living with HIV from exploitation and discrimination by unethical service providers.
The National Coordinator of NEPWHAN, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, who made these known in a statement in Abuja, explained that the project, which was launched on Thursday, May 27, 2021, is funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
He also urged the government at all levels, other development partners and stakeholders to support the successful implementation of the project.
According to the statement, the project was conceived, among other considerations, due to the vulnerability of PLHIV at service delivery points. It evolved out of the national dialogues around “user fee” elimination in the hospitals. These include hospital registration costs, consultation fees, commodities-related costs, and illegal charges for services provided to PLHIV at the hospitals.
PLHIV in most supported facilities are largely uninformed about the package of services provided, and their rights. As such, they are vulnerable to financial and human rights exploitation and discrimination by unethical service providers.
The PEEP will develop and deploy a training curriculum to enhance the capacity of PLHIV to understand personal responsibility, know their rights and the package of care they can access. It will also empower them to promote treatment education and protect their right to health. They will also be adequately skilled to recognize and protect members against rights violations.
PEEP will also set up grievance management mechanisms at a facility, State and national levels to enable PLHIV report, mitigate and seek redress for incidences of human rights violations, including Gender-Based Violence (GBV). This will be achieved through capacity building and support to NEPWHAN national and State Coordinators to set up a grievance reporting and feedback mechanism/system.
The project will principally build the capacity of over 600 PLHIV, and support NEPWHAN national, State and Support Group structures to develop and disseminate knowledge on health literacy and health rights, as well as equip PLHIV to lead advocacy initiatives and engagements of their constituents.
The communication plan of the project includes the development and dissemination of IEC materials on other knowledge tools promoting the health literacy and rights curriculum for PLHIV. It will also develop a reporting plan to document periodic progress and outcomes of the PEEP project.
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The project will be implemented in three phases. Phase 1 will cover June to September 2021; Phase 2 will cover October to December 2021; while Phase 3, which is part of COP21, will target Key Population clients accessing services in One-Stop Shops (OSS).
At the launch event, which held at the conference hall of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) in Abuja, the Director-General of the agency, Dr. Aliyu Gambo thanked PEPFAR for recognizing the importance to work with NEPWHAN on this project to educate and empower PLHIV on available services and their rights. He opined that the project was long overdue, and called for continuous empowerment of PLHIV across the country.
The Deputy Coordinator of PEPFAR in Nigeria, Dr. Murphy Akpu described patient education as a critical aspect of HIV intervention and service provision and affirmed that PEEP was conceived to close the gap at the endpoint, between service takers and service providers. He looks forward to improved service delivery, culminating in an improved retention rate as the project continues.
The UNAIDS Country Director, Dr Erasmus Morah, who was represented by Erva Jean, in his remarks said: “It is through programmes such as the PEEP that communities will continue to realize their full potential, that PLHIV will be empowered to claim their seat at the table, walk with their own chair if they have to – in making sure that they have access to the required quality services.
“UNAIDS pledges its support to this partnership and community leadership, especially in light of the new global AIDS strategy which urges countries to address the inequalities that are impeding access to HIV and other health services and to put people at the center of the response for epidemic control.”
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