The Anambra State AIDS Control Agency (ANSACA) has launched a telehealth platform to improve confidential access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care, particularly for people affected by stigma, distance and difficulties with follow-up services.
The Executive Director and Project Manager of ANSACA, Dr Nkem Okeke, said the initiative would link people seeking HIV-related services with about 176 primary healthcare centres across the state, while providing information, counselling, referrals and follow-up support.
Okeke disclosed this in Awka on Tuesday during the unveiling of the platform and the agency’s maiden newsletter.
He said more than 2,500 people had been tested through community, motor park, workplace and tertiary institution outreach programmes since April, with those requiring further care referred to appropriate facilities.
“Testing is not the end. It is the beginning of a pathway to prevention, treatment and sustained care,” Okeke said, stressing that “healthcare must not be limited by distance.”
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The platform provides access to information and counselling on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), HIV testing, treatment adherence and other related services.
Okeke said the system would strengthen the link between community awareness and testing and subsequent referral, clinical intervention and continued engagement in care.
He explained that callers would be assessed and directed to suitable health facilities, with follow-up conducted to establish whether they had received the required services.
The ANSACA chief said the agency had also expanded its community-based response through a 1,693-member Ward HIV/AIDS Brigade operating across the state’s 326 wards, while interventions had been strengthened in 27 tertiary institutions.
He noted that the telehealth platform was designed to complement, rather than replace, hospitals, doctors and the state’s existing telemedicine system by integrating HIV services into the wider digital health network.
Delivering the keynote address, Prof. Ifeoma Njelita said digital innovation could help shift HIV services from a largely facility-based approach towards a more connected and community-focused system.
“Telehealth should be a service-delivery strategy, not a technological showcase,” Njelita said.
She said the platform could support follow-up consultations, adherence counselling, PrEP and PEP counselling, referrals, specialist consultations and psychosocial support.
Njelita proposed an “Anambra Digital HIV Connect” built around digital HIV information, telehealth and teleconsultation, testing and referral, treatment adherence and retention, and data intelligence.
She stressed the need to prioritise privacy, consent, cybersecurity, clinical governance and community participation, adding that digital tools should complement rather than replace community health workers.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, who represented Gov. Chukwuma Soludo, commended ANSACA for using digital technology to widen access to HIV services.
Mefor said the initiative would complement the state’s existing telemedicine programme and support efforts to make healthcare more accessible.
The Chairman of the occasion, Izuchukwu Nwabueze, said the telehealth service and newsletter would enhance communication, documentation and community engagement around HIV interventions, while improving access to prevention, testing and care.
The initiative is part of Anambra’s 2026–2028 State Strategic Transformation and Sustainability Plan for HIV, which focuses on prevention, treatment, coordination and sustainability, particularly among young people and other priority populations.
The event also featured the unveiling of the newsletter and goodwill messages from health-sector stakeholders, community leaders and organisations involved in HIV prevention and care.
