Make knowing your HIV status part of your New year resolution, NACA urge Nigerians

The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has urged Nigerians to ensure they know their Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) status as their new year resolution.

The agency said an individual HIV story begins with knowing their status, which it noted is the safest gateway to prevention, care and treatment of the disease.

The Director General of NACA, Dr. Aliyu Gambo, who gave the new year message, said while Nigeria join the rest of the world to push for the last mile, the agency will work with all stakeholders to ensure that 90 percent of Nigerians living with HIV know their status and placed on life saving treatment to achieve viral load suppression to keep them alive, healthy, as well as prevent new infection of their partners and unborn babies.

‘’Knowing ones HIV status is no longer difficult as Nigerians can now test themselves in a matter of minutes using self-test kits or call NACA at 6222 for guidance,” he said.

Gambo said the agency, in the last few years, had taken bold steps to prevent new HIV infections through consistent provision of information on prevention, available and accessible HIV/AIDS services to Nigerians, irrespective of where they reside in the country.
He said: “We must build on the successes recorded so far at individual, family and community levels to prevent new HIV infections as we move into the last mile decade for the control and eradication of HIV. Knowing your HIV status allows you to make informed decisions, either way, the result turns out.” “Remember, people still get infected with HIV every day, mostly as a result of indiscriminate sexual behaviors.”