.Tasks social media influencers
The Director General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Gambo Aliyu, has said that discrimination and stigmatization still constitute barriers to the people knowing their HIV status and the efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
He called on the media and Social media Influencers to help to combat misinformation and dispel myths associated with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and promote a more accurate and responsible narrative that would help the country to have an HIV free generation.
Speaking at a two-day workshop for Social media Influencers, bloggers and Journalists, organized by NACA in collaboration with APIN in Abuja, Aliyu noted that one thing that has denied Nigeria the ability to fight HIV to finish was information, communication and Connection.
He observed that fghting HIV to finish is one of the top ranking priority for the health sector in Nigeria, adding that ere was no way the country can end HIV without passing the right information to adolescents and young people.
Aliyu said that Nigeria over the last 10 years has reduced the number of hospitalization and deaths as a result of HIV.
The NACA boss stated that government alone cannot end HIV/AIDs, adding that there is need for support from every single person to fight AIDs to finish by the year 2030
Aliyu observed that HIV even though it has no cure, is a disease that no longer kills, and is one disease that can be managed successfully.
He said, “People have been living with this virus, now some for the last 30 years or more than 30 years, because HIV is more than 40 years. However, we want people to understand that fighting HIV begins with you.”
Adding: “If you look at our data, you will find out that the vast population of people living with the virus are those that are around the age of 34 between the age of 34 to about 40 years, and this is easy to explain. The last 20 years, we have succeeded in reducing HIV from disease that kills to this that no longer kills. So, all these people that were 20 years to 15 years in the last 10-15 years, that is, 30-35 years, have lived with the virus and are now counting in the larger pool.”
He noted that key population, especially men who have sex with men, transgender people who inject drugs, and commercial sex workers are groups that get HIV fast and spread it faster than any other group.
“Fighting HIV to finish is the priority
We cannot have an HIV free generation without the young ones being on the table, there is no way we can end AIDS without talking to our youths. By 2030, the global community is expected to end AIDS as a public health concern.”
Earlier, the Deputy Director, Public Relations and Protocol Division in the agency, Mrs Toyin Aderibigbe, said that the workshop was part of NACA’s initiative to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission and combat the stigma and discrimination faced by People Living with HIV (PLHIV).
She noted that social media has become an influential platform for shaping public opinion and can play a crucial role in reducing the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus and combating stigma and discrimination by being equipped with adequate knowledge and understanding to help reduce the spread of fake news, misinformation and, or misconception on HIV/AIDS and other related diseases.
Aderibigbe said that the aim of organizing the Workshop was to solicit the support of the media in achieving NACA’s mission by being their advocates on social media and traditional media platforms towards ending AIDS by the year, 2030.
