As
Nigeria joins the international community to mark the World AIDS Day 2016 this
week, experts say that approximately 78 million people have been infected with
HIV, while 35 million have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the first
cases of HIV were reported.
Expressing
Nigeria’s commitment to joining the rest of the world in the drive to end the
AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals, the
Director General of the National Agency for the Controls of AIDS, Dr. Kayode
Ogungbemi, noted that countries — including Nigeria — are getting on the
Fast-Track, as more than 18 million people globally are currently on
life-saving HIV treatment; even as Nigeria is also on track to virtually
eliminate HIV transmission from mother to child.
In
his speech marking this year’s celebration, the Executive Director of UNAIDS,
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Michel Sidibé, lamented that,
“We are winning against the AIDS epidemic, but we are not seeing progress
everywhere.
“The
number of new HIV infections is not declining among adults, with young women
particularly at risk of becoming infected with HIV.
“We
know that for girls in sub-Saharan Africa, the transition to adulthood is a
particularly dangerous time. Young women are facing a triple threat: a high
risk of HIV infection, low rates of HIV testing and poor adherence to HIV
treatment.”
Ogungbemi
however expresses hope that with access to treatment, people living with HIV
are living longer; noting that government’s investment in HIV treatment is
paying off, even if progress has been slow.
He
advised people to go for screening to determine their HIV status, while he also
urged those living with the virus to continue to access the antiretroviral
medicines that will protect them from progressing to AIDS.
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