Comprehensive care for people living with HIV/AIDS: issues and problems of social integration in Nigeria

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) pandemic has become a major global public health problem with rising number of cases and associated deaths. Most of the present activities in developing countries, especially in Africa, are aimed at reducing the transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. Care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is essential not only to mitigate the impacts of HIV/AIDS among PLWHA but is also an important component of prevention of the disease. There is now a general recognition that comprehensive care across the continuum should be provided to PLWHA through all the stages of infection, with a crucial role for community-home based care activities. In addition, AIDS orphans need to be supported Although, documented evidences abound on the utility of comprehensive care and community-home based care approaches outside Africa and in some African countries, there is little information on them in Nigeria. This paper therefore reviews the recent epidemiology of HIV infection, the many currently developed initiatives to deliver comprehensive care for PLWHA in the hospital, community and at home, and the issue of AIDS orphans. In addition, measures to effectively integrate them into the mainstream of societal activities are discussed.