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| Prof. John Idoko |
The Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) Prof. John Idoko said HIV prevalence has declined from 5.8 per cent in 2001 to 4.1 percent in 2010, and new HIV infections have declined by about 50% from 338,423 in 2005 to 176,701 in 2015.
- Rivers - 15.2% , Taraba - 10.5% Kaduna - 9.2%, Nasarawa - 8.1%,FCT - 7.5%, Akwa Ibom - 6.5%, Sokoto - 6.4%, Oyo - 5.6%, Benue - 5.6%, Yobe - 5.3%, Cross River - 4.4%, Ondo - 4.3%, Gombe - 3.4%, Abia - 3.3%, Bayelsa - 2.7%, Osun - 2.6%, Imo - 2.5%, Borno - 2.4%, Plateau - 2.3%, Lagos - 2.2%, Jigawa - 2.1%, Adamawa - 1.9%, Kwara - 1.4%, Kogi - 1.4% Kano - 1.3%, Enugu - 1.3%, Niger - 1.2%, Anambra - 1.2%, Ebonyi - 0.9%, Kebbi - 0.8%, Edo - 0.8%, Delta - 0.7%, Ogun - 0.6%, Bauchi - 0.6%, Zamfara - 0.4%, Ekiti - 0.2%, % HIV Prevalence National Prevalence Rate is 3.4 (Source: NARHS 2012)
He said, from these figures, it is clear that Nigeria has made significant progress in AIDS Response.
But does it mean the war against HIV/AIDS is over?The Reasons Why HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rate In Nigeria Drops To 3.4%
Prof. Idoko, however, said there are more remarkable improvements attributable to Nigeria’s HIV response:- The number of HIV counselling and testing sites across the country from 1,046 in 2010 to 8,114 in 2014.
- The number of people tested for HIV has significantly increased from 1,380,418 in 2010 to 7,101,636 in 2014.
- On Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), the number of sites has increased from 675 in 2010 to 6283 in 2014.
- Similarly, the number of HIV positive pregnant women who received anti-retroviral prophylaxis to pregnant mother to child transmission has increased by over 87 per cent from 33,891 in 2010 to 63,350 in 2014.
- Effective antiretroviral treatment provides a dual effect of saving the lives of people living with HIV and sharply interrupting the transmission of HIV within the community.
- With improved domestic budgeting for HIV/AIDS and sustained external funding, there are plans to expand the coverage of antiretroviral treatment to 1.2 million adults and children by 2017 through the establishment of 2000 additional treatment sites.
He explained further said that “ this and other prevention and control activities are important steps towards achieving an end to AIDS epidemic by the year 2030.”
Despite the drop from 5.1% to 3.4% in HIV/AIDS infection by NACA recently the war against HIV/AIDS is far from being over. This is because many people are not making any effort to go for testing.Therefore, we should not start celebrating yet.
HIV is increasingly concentrated among hard-to-reach populations such as injecting drug users, gay men and sex workers - groups who are often stigmatised and have trouble accessing treatment and prevention services.
More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of all people living with HIV (23.5 million), live in sub-Saharan Africa, of which Nigeria is a part. Ninety-one percent of the world’s HIV-positive children are also found in the sub-Sahara. And in 2011, an estimated 1.8 million people in the region became newly infected.
An estimated 1.2 million adults and children died of AIDS, accounting for 71 per cent of the world’s AIDS deaths in 2011.
Experts say since the beginning of the epidemic in the early 1980s, more than 60 million people, globally, have contracted HIV; and nearly 30 million have died of HIV-related causes.
If these statistics convey any message at all, it is this: HIV knows no border and anybody can be infected with it. Worse still is the huge number of young people who were indicated as victims of this disease. Indeed, experts fear that apart from young people who may have been born HIV-positive as a result of Mother-To-Child-Transmission, many young people contract the infectious disease through unprotected sex with someone already infected.
The need to get tested for the HIV cannot be overestimated. All hands needs to be on deck if NACA is to end AIDS by 2030.We have to support NACA’s goal by taking the HIV test and fight the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
Can NACA End The AIDS epidemic by the year 2030?
HIV is increasingly concentrated among hard-to-reach populations such as injecting drug users, gay men and sex workers - groups who are often stigmatised and have trouble accessing treatment and prevention services.
More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of all people living with HIV (23.5 million), live in sub-Saharan Africa, of which Nigeria is a part. Ninety-one percent of the world’s HIV-positive children are also found in the sub-Sahara. And in 2011, an estimated 1.8 million people in the region became newly infected.
An estimated 1.2 million adults and children died of AIDS, accounting for 71 per cent of the world’s AIDS deaths in 2011.
Experts say since the beginning of the epidemic in the early 1980s, more than 60 million people, globally, have contracted HIV; and nearly 30 million have died of HIV-related causes.
If these statistics convey any message at all, it is this: HIV knows no border and anybody can be infected with it. Worse still is the huge number of young people who were indicated as victims of this disease. Indeed, experts fear that apart from young people who may have been born HIV-positive as a result of Mother-To-Child-Transmission, many young people contract the infectious disease through unprotected sex with someone already infected.
The need to get tested for the HIV cannot be overestimated. All hands needs to be on deck if NACA is to end AIDS by 2030.We have to support NACA’s goal by taking the HIV test and fight the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
What then is the symptoms of having HIV and if there any need to go for screening? Find out in the next article.
#takethetesttakecontrol
#takethetesttakecontrol
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