At least, 388,864
Nigerians were infected with the HIV disease in 2011 alone, says the Lagos
State Government.
The government quoted
the National AIDS Control Agency statistics, which revealed that there were
388,864 fresh cases of HIV reported as at the end of 201.
Special Adviser to
the Governor on Youth and Social Development, Dr. Dolapo Badru, spoke at a
one-day HIV Prevention and HTC Workshop organised by his office in conjunction
with Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, LSACA, in Surulere, Lagos, southwest
Nigeria on Thursday.
“For the 26 years
period dated 1986 to December 2011, that AIDS was first reported in Nigeria,
3,459,363 people now live with HIV. An estimated 1,449,166 people require
Anti-Rectroviral; 388,864 new infections occurred in the year ended 2011.
“The data collected
from the National AIDS Control Agency shows 217,148 AIDS-related deaths between
1991 and 2001 and Nigeria witnessed an increase in the prevalence of HIV in the
country,” said Badru.
“As at today, 5.4
million young people out of the global population of 1.7 billion are living
with HIV and 40 percent of new HIV infections occur among young people, they
have the highest rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections, STIs.
“In Nigeria, the
prevalence among young women aged 15-24 is estimated to be three times higher
than among men of the same age. Female constitutes 58 percent (about 1.72
million) of persons living with HIV in Nigeria. Each year, 55 percent of AIDS
deaths in Nigeria occur among women and girls,” he added.
Badru, whose speech
was read by the Director, Finance and Administration in the ministry, Olalekan
Akodu said there was the need to intensify collective efforts to meet the
serious challenges to elimination of HIV among young people in Nigeria and
Lagos State in particular in order to move toward an HIV-free generation by
2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment