World AIDS Day: Nigeria progressing towards ending AIDS as public health problem-NACA boss

.Over 30 million people living with HIV globally on treatment says UNAIDS

The Director General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Gambo Aliyu, has said that Nigeria is progressing towards ending AIDS as a public health problem.

He stressed the need to put in place, all structures required to sustain the response beyond 2030 to prevent Nigeria from slipping back into HIV endemic country.

Briefing journalists on the 2023 World AIDS Day yesterday in Abuja, Aliyu revealed that an estimated 1.8 million Nigerians live with the HIV virus out of which over 1.6 million have been placed on treatment.

He observed that Nigeria on daily basis is witnessing decline on the number of people getting new HIV infection want to sustain the tempo by ensuring that Nigeria is not only leading Africa but leading globally in terms of progress towards ending AIDS.

Aliyu stressed the need to end inequality in access to HIV services, stop stigma and discrimination and ensure that no one is left behind.

He said: “Nigeria like many other country, has made significant strides in the fight against HIV/AIDS but there is still much to be done to achieve the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

“Nigeria has the second-largest burden of HIV infection. Currently a total of 1.8 million persons are estimated to be living with HIV in Nigeria out of which about 1.63million are already on the lifesaving medication of ART.”

According to him, the national average of mother-to-child transmission rate of 22% is driven by a large number of states with transmission rates above 25% and few states with rates below 15% while Nigeria is responsible for about 30% of the world’s gap in PMTCT.

Aliyu stated that every year, millions of Dollars are pumped into Nigeria to make sure that the country gets it right and Nigeria is getting it right.

He commended the support of development partners and global communities including UNAIDS, United State Government through PEPFAR, Global Funds for HIV/AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (ATM) and other partners for their indefatigable efforts over the years , which have made the Nigeria HIV response the most resilient globally. The government is poised to continue keep this spirit going to achieve the global target of ending AIDS in Nigeria by 2030.

Also speaking, Country Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Dr Leo Zekeng, said that over 40 million people have died since HIV was discovered in the 80’s, but added that tremendous progress has been made in the fight against HIV not only in Nigeria but globally.
He disclosed that about 30 million people living with HIV globally are on treatment stressing that AIDS is no longer the deadly disease we use to know considering that those affected by the disease who take their medications religiously can live a normal life

Zekeng also observed that new HIV infections have declined “but we still have children living with HIV that we cannot find and put on treatment.

“We need to find those that are hard to reach and place them on treatment. As we pursue the last mile, we need to put communities at the center of response and end inequalities in access to HIV services”, he added.