21m to die of HIV/AIDS by 2030, 28m at risk of infection

A global non-profit organisation, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), has called on world leaders to close funding gap on response to HIV/AIDS.

It also urged the Nigerian government to invest in HIV/AIDS response initiatives, instead of being donor dependent.

Speaking with reporters, yesterday, in Abuja, the foundation’s Country Programme Manager, Adetayo Towolawi, lamented huge testing gap in Nigeria, adding that about 60 per cent of the people didn’t know their HIV status.

Also speaking, Senior Manager, Public Relations and Communications, African Bureau, Oluwakemi Gbadamosi, observed that HIV/AIDS was not yet under control because millions of people still didn’t have access to treatment.

Gbadamosi warned that if funding challenge persisted, about 21 million people were going to die globally by 2030 due to lack of access to treatment while about 28 million people would be infected.