GMLD LAGOS FORMS ALLIANCE WITH HEARTLAND ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL.
GMLD LAGOS FORMS ALLIANCE WITH HEARTLAND ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL.
The Guild of Medical Laboratory Directors (GMLD) Lagos is privileged to have been invited by Heartland Alliance Limited by Guarantee (HALG) to join the fight against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The partnership was made possible by the organization’s Public-Private Partnership consortium partner, John Snow Incorporated (JSI), with funding from the United States’ Agency for International Development (USAID). The collaboration became pertinent to ensure Lagos State meets the UNAIDs target of 95-95-95 by 2030. The invitation to GMLD was in recognition of the pivotal role the Association is playing in the detection of HIV in the country.
Heartland Alliance, the prime for the project Accelerating the Control of the HIV Epidemic in Nigeria (ACE-6), covers Cluster 6. It is a 5-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) grant focusing on new and underutilized partnerships to accelerate the delivery of HIV services to the General population.
HALG began working in Nigeria in 2009 with a large-scale effort to bring high-quality and respectful HIV prevention services to some of the country’s most stigmatized groups. That effort has grown to become one of the most extensive USAID-funded HIV programs for key populations – including members of the LGBTQI+ community, sex workers, and people who inject drugs – in Sub-Saharan Africa.
More recently, HALG has expanded its programming in Nigeria to focus on the needs of women and girls, particularly those extremely marginalized and hard to reach. With a strong background in gender equity and expertise in trauma treatment and mental health, HALG has been training service providers to work with women and children who Boko Haram and other militarized groups in Northeast Nigeria have trafficked.
The collaboration with the Guild of Medical Laboratory Directors (GMLD) started with a meeting on July 31, 2024, in the seminar room of the zonal office of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) in Yaba.
The Association’s Executive members and the Chapter Chairmen of selected chapters, such as Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Ojo, Badagry, Ikorodu, Ajeromi, Apapa, Agege, Kosofe, Shomolu, and Suru-lere were present at the meeting.
Pharm Modupe Okeneye, the Public-Private Partnership Specialist for Lagos State, led the HALG group, with support from the PPP Advisor (Dr Afusat Adesina), program officer paediatrics, program officer laboratory services, and PPP Specialist from Bayelsa State, in an engagement meeting on the roles of medical lab scientists in actualizing the UNAIDS target of 95% of persons living with HIV getting to know their status. The meeting was educative and informative, highlighting the invaluable role of Medical Laboratory Scientists in various presentations. The chapter chairmen obtained reagents and kits to share among their members, who were expected to submit data to the organization (HALG).
In furtherance of this partnership, GMLD was invited to Lekki in a letter signed by the Senior State Program Manager for the ACE—6 Project, Dr. Mbah Johnpaul, dated August 28, 2024, for a few days of intensive training on the need for a free HIV society in Lagos. The HALG team at the Lekki meeting included the following: the HTS & Linkage Program Manager (Regional), the Lagos State program officer HTS & Linkage, the PPP Specialist for Lagos State, the PPP Advisor (Regional) and the Local Government Coordinators.
The relationship will surely open doors and lift the face of Medical Laboratory practice in Lagos.