The Nigeria Alliance for Health Systems Strengthening (NAHSS) on Monday said it would collaborate with Federal Ministry of Health to develop and implement an expanded nationally standardized quality management programme called ``NigeriaQual’’.

The programme, which is funded by the U.S. government through the University of Maryland, will carter for people living with HIV and other diseases.

Mrs Chinenye Ugoji, the Project Director of NAHSS, said at a meeting organised for heads of hospitals in Abuja that the U.S. agency would partner both the Federal and State Ministry of Health for a successful programme.

She said that the programme, when effective, would first carter for people living with HIV to ensure smooth service delivery.

Ugoji described ``NigeriaQual’’ as quality improvement programme for HIV treatment centres in Nigeria.

She added that ``today, we are consulting the chief medical directors from about 27 hospitals in 14 states on ways that can better entrench the things that we have developed since 2012,’’ she said.

Prof. John Idoko, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), said the Agency hope to put an end to HIV and AIDS by 2030.

He said NACA would not want the condition to be a major public health problem anymore.

``We have a strategy called 90 90 90; this is because we want to be able to identify 90 per cent of the people who have HIV in the country.

``After that, we want to put 90 per cent of those that are positive on therapy and monitor them properly so that the virus will be suppressed and it will not be found in the blood.’’

According to him, all hands must be on deck if the war against HIV and AIDS is to be won.

``We have to look for innovative ways of mobilising resources; also, the health insurance scheme can be accessed at both the local, state and national levels,’’ he added.

Dr Patrick Dakum, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) said that the focus of the Institute was to ensure that quality services were provided at the various health institutions.

Dakum said that the purpose of the meeting was to look at ways of transferring the ownership of care for people living with HIV to government and from donor agencies who sustained the programme for many years.

He added that government had played its roles over the years and was gradually taking over the programme.

He noted that ``people living with HIV do not have to pay for drugs or test, but now that the partners are withdrawing gradually, the burden will be heavier on the government.

``So, we are looking at how to get the necessary funds to continue the programme.’’