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A common thread that runs through the lives of many women living with HIV who have received prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services is the joy of having HIV free babies.

 Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) provides PMTCT services in Katsina state since 2004 with support from the US Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). 

“Over the past seven years in Katsina State, more than 1,800 HIV-exposed infants whose mothers received PMTCT services have remained HIV-free,” says IHVN Katsina State Maternal, Child Health Lead, Mrs. Farida Salisu Maiadua.

Mrs. Maiadua says that pregnant women are regularly counselled to support adherence to their medications as prescribed.

“In our supported facilities, all women living with HIV of reproductive age are screened for pregnancy during every hospital visit. This is to rule out pregnancy as early as possible to start PMTCT. Their viral load is regularly monitored as stated in the National Guideline. Mentor mothers in health facilities constantly call and visit them to check on their health and follow-up on their hospital appointments. Before delivery of their babies, we ensure that the preventive medications are available and encourage them to come to the facility for an early infant diagnosis test within three days of delivery.”

Asides these steps, she adds that the Institute encourages early and exclusive breastfeeding for six months, and breastfeeding for 12 months.

Though from different backgrounds, ages and with different stories, women who have gone through PMTCT have smiles on their faces.

28-year-old Jemila A. is one of the women who have benefitted from these services. When she knew about her HIV positive status in 2021, she was single and afraid that she would not get married because of her status. She was however encouraged by the counselling she received at the hospital. Jemila did not just get HIV services in the hospital; she met her husband there!

The adherence counsellor linked them both and they interacted regularly at support group meetings. Their love story is still unfolding, and Jemila’s excitement is that she has a HIV free baby girl.

“I was counselled constantly about how to live healthy with my status and take medications at the right time. The mentor mothers were with me at the labour room. They’ve been guiding me on when to come for tests for the baby. My baby’s next test will be when she turns 9 months old.  With the help I’ve received, I now encourage pregnant women who don’t like going to the hospital to do so. I’ve even escorted some to the hospital,” Jemila says.

Dalhatu E., a tailor, is another woman who has received PMTCT services.

“My baby is now six weeks. I feel so happy when I look at her. The staff in the hospital are friendly; they don’t stigmatize me so I’m always happy coming here. For nine years, I’ve been living with HIV. My husband also supports me though he is not HIV positive,” 40-year-old Dalhatu says.

Dalhatu’s baby is one of the 72 HIV free babies delivered in General Hospital Katsina between October 2024 and November 2025.

Nafisa B. also has a nine-month HIV free baby. Nafisa has lived with HIV for more than 11 years and is now an advocate to women to visit the hospital for a HIV test and regular checks especially during pregnancy.

“This is the 3rd baby that I have received PMTCT services for and she is HIV free,” Nafisa says with a smile.

Jemila, Dalhatu and Nafisa all receive support from mentor mothers who guide them through the process of HIV prevention during pregnancy, delivery and till their babies are about two years old.

IHVN Supported Mentor Mother Nuratu Sani says she is happy when she can assist her peers during pregnancy, antenatal care, delivery and care for the baby.

“Two of the women I supported named their children after me,” she said beaming with delight.

“I guide women living with HIV through all the required hospital tests and support them through receiving all the available services like adherence counselling, proper documentation, amongst others. I am friends with all the pregnant women living with HIV who come to this facility,” she explains.

IHVN Katsina State Manager, Dr. Felix Nwajiani says taking HIV services to the community to enhance prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV services remains key.

“We work with health facilities to provide comprehensive HIV services including antenatal care and PMTCT services across all the 34 local government areas in Katsina State. Beyond providing these services in the facilities, our community PMTCT program which targets unconventional settings like the traditional birth attendants. Usually, traditional birth attendants in the state are not culturally known to conduct ANC. Therefore, to reach communities despite the insecurity in the state, IHVN is leveraging on the existing structure of roving midwives who are indigent and are professionally trained to conduct ANC and can penetrate the nooks and crannies of each LGA. They were supported with training and logistics to cover more communities and it is working awesomely,” he reveals.

Katsina State Maternal Neonatal and Child Health Focal Person, Mrs Zainab Sherrif Abdulkadir says that the State government is partnering with IHVN to sensitize communities about PMTCT.

“We tell them the importance of antenatal care, and HIV testing. The state government provides free test kits for pregnant women. The state also provides free antenatal care and delivery services for pregnant women. We have regular outreaches to the local governments with First Lady of Katsina State, Hajiya Zulaibat Dikko Umaru Radda to create awareness about PMTCT and give pregnant women free mama kits with delivery essentials. We like the work the mentor mothers are doing with women living with HIV for linkages and other services and believe this will be sustained. Free HIV babies in Katsina State are the goal and this is being achieved,” Mrs. Abdulkadir adds.

“In the past three years, I have lost two babies, a boy at seven months and a girl at five months. I did not know my HIV status neither did I know theirs until some midwives came to my community in Modoji, Katsina for an outreach in August 2025. They spoke to pregnant women about antenatal care, counselled us and carried out HIV tests.

 I tested positive to HIV. I was seven months pregnant at the time. I was sad and did not know anything about preventing my baby from having HIV until they guided me on what to do,” said Khadijat Ishaq, a 23-year-old woman who benefitted from the “roving midwives” program implemented by the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) in Katsina State.

IHVN started the roving midwives’ program in Katsina state in 2022 to increase access to HIV services especially prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) in communities. Trained Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) and midwives schedule weekly visits to communities in the 34 local government areas in the state to sensitize pregnant women about HIV, provide antenatal care services and HIV testing. HIV positive women are then taken from the community to the hospital for life saving medications and care for mother and child.

Khadijah received free HIV services for herself and baby before, during and after pregnancy and is delighted that the second early infant diagnosis test shows that the baby is HIV free. She is one of the 77,848 women screened across the state due to the strategy and one of the 11 new HIV positive women linked from the community to health facilities to receive PMTCT services through the program.

One of the services she receives is peer guidance and counselling by mentor mothers. Mentor mothers have gone through the PMTCT program and provide guidance to newly enrolled women who are unsure of next steps.

“When one of the roving midwives brought me to General Hospital Katsina after the outreach, the mentor mothers here welcomed me like a friend. They counselled me about adhering to HIV medications and I decided to take my medicines at 8am daily. The mentor mothers and other health care workers told me about the importance of telling my husband about my status and encouraging him to come to the hospital for a test. My husband supports me. The mentor mothers also call me to check on my welfare and guided me to take a viral load test. I’m told that the virus is suppressed because I am adhering to treatment. I have been exclusively breastfeeding my baby.  I feel happy every time I come to the hospital because I know that there are people here who care for me,” Khadijah added.

IHVN Senior Program Officer Prevention Care and Treatment, Mrs Salisu Faridah Maiadua said that the program was birthed to reach women in communities who may hardly ever go to the hospital for antenatal care due to security challenges, distance from their houses to the nearest functional public facility, transportation costs, lack of spousal or family consent, cultural peculiarities amongst other reasons.

“We considered working with traditional birth attendants to reach women in communities, but this did not suit our cultural reality. Traditional birth attendants are utilized only for delivery of children and not for antenatal care of women. We therefore decided to collaborate with the State Primary Health Care Development Agency to enlist midwives, nurses and community health extension workers – there are many of them here due to the good number of health colleges in the state. These health workers reside in the different local government areas and are the best hands to create awareness and provide HIV services to their people. We trained the local government MNCH focal persons and the roving midwives to carry out HIV counselling and testing and they work with us closely to provide these services in all the local governments” Faridah said.

She explained that the state government has shown great interest and support for the program which gives room for sustainability of community activities to reach women and children.

Maternal Neonatal and Child Health Focal Person for Batagarawa Local Government Area, Binta Rabo, goes out with the roving midwives for outreach activities. They conduct advocacy visits to the village heads and agree on a suitable date before going for an outreach. Thereafter, a town crier goes round the community to inform women about the date and the need to participate.

“I love the work, more women in the communities are becoming aware about their health and HIV testing. In fact, some of them who did not go to the hospital before are now going to the hospital. With the outreaches, we have been able identify HIV positive women and even notice other diseases and guide the women appropriately on how to access health services,” Mrs Rabo said.

The State MNCH Focal Person, Mrs. Zainab Sherrif Abdulkadir applauded the strategy and expressed the state’s willingness to partner with IHVN for the well being women in the state. “We always welcome ideas that help the community. The strategy has identified women in the community with HIV that might not have been identified in health facilities. Our women don’t like going to health facilities because of economic, insecurity issues, religion, culture and the hard-to-reach areas where there reside. The roving midwives go to remote areas to tell them the benefit of antenatal care and PMTCT.”

Halima Saidu, a midwife and Jamila Ibrahim, a Community Health Extension worker are part of the “roving midwives” in Bagarawa Local Government Area. They go to every community at least twice to provide antenatal care and HIV prevention services. The midwives have also integrated other health services like checking vital signs, blood pressure, provision of malaria prevention for pregnant women and routine drugs supported by the government and other stakeholders. They also give health talks on personal hygiene, nutrition and the need for antenatal care.

“More than 60 women show up for each outreach. Our community activities are leading to more acceptance of the need to go to the hospital. Taking these services to hard-to-reach areas gives me joy. We see women who dont go to hospital because of lack of awareness about its importance and we educate them. The prayers and happiness of these women is all the motivation I need,” Halima Saidu said.

In Katsina Local Government Area, Roving Midwives, Hussaina Abdullahi and Halima Abubakar say that the program has addressed the need of many women who have poor health seeking behaviour. “They only go to the hospital when their health situation is dire. Reaching them in the community has been more effective. We counsel them and create awareness about the need to go to the hospital and we notice that they are more receptive to us when we are among them than in the hospital,” said Halima Abubakar.

26-year-old Aisha Shehu received counselling at one of the outreaches in Katsina Local Government Area. She is four months pregnant for her first baby and  was unwilling to go to the hospital because she could not afford transportation costs. However, when she discovered her positive status during the outreach, she was taken to General Hospital Katsina for follow up tests and life saving medications.

“I cried and wanted to die because I thought that death was better than living with HIV. I have been hearing about HIV, but I didn’t know that I am HIV positive. In the hospital, the adherence counsellor and mentor mother calmed me down with their kind words. Today, I am assured of my health and that of my baby  because of the services I received here,” Aisha said.

IHVN Program Lead Maternal, and Child Health, Dr. Victoria Igbinomwanhia explained that the strategy is one of the community initiatives adopted by the Institute with funding support from the US Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through Centers for Disease Control (US-CDC).

“In the four supported States where HIV services are provided, we have utilized strategies such as the Mothers’ Love Party (MLP), the Congregational Approach to PMTCT (CAP) such as baby shower/ Faith based CAP  where we work with community leaders and faith-based leaders to sensitize pregnant and breast feeding women in communities about HIV, provide HIV counselling, testing and other health services,” she said.

In fostering an excellent work culture and staff performance, the Executive Management of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) has initiated the “Employee Recognition Awards” to recognize “Employees of the Month” and “Employee of the Year.”

According to the IHVN Director of Finance and Administration, Mr. Olu Alabi, this recognition covers overall employee performance in dressing, innovation, teamwork, productivity, efficiency, leadership and interpersonal skills, punctuality, and adherence to company values and principles, amongst other things.

For November 2025, IHVN celebrates Anthony Nwokoma, Ezenwa James Onyemata, Adeleke Aremu, Clementina Iwodi, Oreoluwa Kelvin Fawehinmi, Nkiru Bosah and Helen Mutong, whose performance stood out in their teams.

Hearty cheers to our November star performers!

The Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) has collaborated with the Federal Capital Territory AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and STIs Control Program (FASCP), and other stakeholders, to host a symposium in commemoration of World AIDS Day 2025.

Government leaders, Implementing Partners, Civil Society Organisations, and Private-sector actors convened at the event with sub-theme, “Innovating Together: Sustaining the Integrated HIV, STI’s, Viral Hepatitis, TB and Malaria Response in the FCT,” to chart a pathway toward a more resilient and integrated health response.

In alignment with the national theme, “Overcoming Disruptions: Sustaining Nigeria’s HIV Response,” the symposium addressed persistent funding constraints, systems disruptions, and the need for innovative approaches to maintain essential HIV and ATM services.

Delivering remarks on behalf of IHVN, Director of Finance and Administration, Dr. Olu Alabi stated, “I want to congratulate the Department of Health for commemorating this year’s World AIDS Day. Despite the challenges and shortcomings, we face, Nigerians are resilient. We are Nigerians, and we must take care of ourselves. This is our response, our communities, and our future. Despite the disruptions, we have what it takes to sustain our progress.”

He said that IHVN is ready to work with the FCT and the Federal Government to explore better ways to reduce wastage, optimise resources, and strengthen the systems that support HIV, STI, Viral Hepatitis, TB, and Malaria interventions.

At the event, Director of the FCT Department of Public Health, Dan Gadzama said that integration of malaria, tuberculosis and other health services will minimize cost and ensure wider access. He said that the FCT Administration will continue to deepen partnerships to address disruptions in HIV care.

 Also speaking at the symposium, IHVN FCT Regional Manager, Dr. Tangkat Hosle, noted that the gathering provided a critical opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on the progress of ongoing interventions and identify areas for improvement.

According to him, “This symposium provides an opportunity for us to review our interventions and examine how we can strengthen and improve them. Importantly, as we focus on sustaining the benefits of these interventions, the theme for this year is both timely and topical. It challenges us to think more strategically about the future of the HIV response in the FCT.”

Throughout the symposium, participants reflected on the vulnerabilities within the health system such as reduced donor funding, supply chain gaps, rising program costs and the need for stronger community structures. The discussions highlighted innovative strategies including service integration, improved surveillance, digital health tools, and efficient resource allocation to ensure continuity of care.

Stakeholders also acknowledged IHVN’s significant role in the FCT’s progress, particularly in treatment scale-up, data management, healthcare workforce capacity, and community engagement.

The meeting ended with a renewed joint commitment to protect public health gains and accelerate progress toward ending AIDS as a public health threat. Stakeholders pledged to sustain collaboration, strengthen innovation, and harness domestic capacity to build a more resilient HIV, AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria response in the FCT and across Nigeria.