The goal of HIV treatment in Nigeria has evolved over time from merely treating HIV-positive individuals to preventing the spread of the infection. One such crucial step is the testing of pregnant women for HIV to identify mothers who are HIV positive. The vertical transmission of HIV is still a significant problem in Nigeria despite the PMTCT program’s (prevention of mother to child transmission) effectiveness being well established. Mother to Child transmission still accounts for the majority of pediatric HIV transmission in various communities and is dependent on high maternal viral load, infection of the placenta, antepartum hemorrhage, prolonged labor, invasive delivery procedures, prolonged rupture of membrane, pre-term birth, and breastfeeding.
As a result, the Government of Nigeria in its commitment to community prevention of mother to child transmission intervention rolled out certain mechanisms to help prevent vertical transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their infants. One of which is prioritized community mobilization for HIV testing, which connects HIV-positive mothers with peer support (case managers and mentor mothers), ensuring that all HIV-exposed babies are proactively linked to early Infant diagnosis services. This has helped increase coverage of PMTCT services that has continued to see many pregnant women registered with the ultimate result of preventing vertical transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their infants. Even though PMTCT interventions happen in the communities, it has been difficult to obtain adequate data from these interventions, which poses a challenge to national health administrators and stakeholders who require data to monitor, evaluate and improve health services like the PMTCT program
To optimize reporting of PMTCT activities in the community, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Nigeria working with Public Health Information, Surveillance, Solutions and Systems (PHIS3) project birthed a strategy to capture PMTCT services happening in the heart of the communities, not documented, nor reported for the PMTCT program in Nigeria. The PHIS3 team developed an electronic application called NDRLite; an android-based app that houses a cPMTCT module for reporting community Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (cPMTCT) interventions.
This module which supports data collection for weekly and monthly reporting is used at the community level by the non-typical health sites, like TBAs, faith homes etc. to document PMTCT services carried out. With the widespread deployment of this mobile app, the aim is to improve the reporting of PMTCT across Nigeria. With this data, resources can better be allocated to areas needing increased funding and intervention. Through this collaborative effort over time, we expect a decrease in HIV transmission from mother to child, hence improving the quality of life for these children and driving Nigeria towards the UNAIDS HIV 95-95-95 goals set for 2030.