Lafiyan Yara project in Nigeria continues for three more years
Lafiyan Yara project in Nigeria continues for three more years
The Lafiyan Yara project project in Nigeria continues to further improve the lives of mothers and children living with HIV in Taraba State. The project was initially planned for three years, and was expanded with additional investment from ViiV Healthcare Positive Action under the Paediatric Breakthrough Partnership.
Well-being of children
Lafiyan Yara means 'well-being of children' in Hausa language. Lafiyan Yara aims to reduce morbidity and mortality among pregnant women and children resulting from HIV. The project uses a context-specific community approach to increase uptake and retention of paediatric HIV testing and treatment through demand creation in which existing community structures such as patent and proprietary medicine vendors, traditional birth attendants and village health workers (VHW) are engaged as community mobilizers. The project is implemented in Taraba state, Nigeria. During the first phase, 116,070 pregnant women and 321,438 children were tested for HIV. Of those, 662 women and 379 children (0-14 years) were identified as HIV positive and referred for treatment: 629 (95%) women and 351 (93%) children successfully initiated treatment. The project also improved retention of mothers and children in care. Despite these successes in phase 1, there were still gaps that needed to be addressed.
Greater impact
In Lafiyan Yara phase 2, we will scale the project to two new local government areas in Taraba State for greater impact. Society for Family Health will also strengthen the capacity of the traditional birth attendants, mentor mothers and local government coordinators to conduct HIV testing services at community level so we are able to provide services closer to people’s homes. In parallel, Society for Family Health will work with government and other stakeholders to come up with an accreditation system for traditional birth attendants based on their qualifications. In addition to case-finding, Lafiyan Yara will focus on further improving retention in care and treatment adherence, for example by setting up and supporting village savings and loans groups, male involvement meetings, child-friendly communication, and case management. We aim to locate 2,500 HIV positive pregnant and lactating mothers and 400 HIV positive children in the community, ensure that 95% of those who tested positive are retained in care, and ensure that 95% of those in care are virally suppressed.