…75,000 new infections recorded among adults in 2023 alone
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr Temitope Ilori has lamented the burden of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
The NACA DG, in an interview with The Punch, said it was unfortunate that a lot of people living with HIV/AIDS were still being stigmatised.
She said, “We are recording new infections. For instance, going by the 2023 data, we realised that we had about 22,000 children born with the HIV/AIDS.
“That’s for new infection among those children. And if we look at the trend, there’s not much decline from over the years.
“Among adults generally, we recorded about 75,000 new infections in 2023 alone. But when we plotted the graph coming from previous years, for both male and female adults, there has been some decline in the new infections.
“But among the children, we are not seeing that significant decline in the new infection. That’s why we are worried. This means we have a significant proportion of children born with HIV/AIDS.
“What that is telling us is that pregnant women who have HIV/AIDS either don’t know their status, or are not getting tested. For those who have tested positive, it means that they are not accessing medications. If such people are accessing medications and using them regularly, the viral load will be low. And if the viral load is low, they won’t be able to transmit these infections to their children whether in pregnancy or when born alive.
“So, the most significant information we want to put out there is that everybody should get tested and know their status. When you know your HIV status, you can seek help.
“Anyone can know their status, especially pregnant women. You can go to either the primary or secondary healthcare facilities or teaching hospitals. HIV tests are available in government health facilities for free.
“You can get tested and then be put on medications after your status has been confirmed. We are also working with other non-conventional partners like trained birth attendants and mission homes.
“We have trained traditional birth attendants in different communities, who are meant to tell the people all they need to know about the disease and to let them know their status.
“The truth is that we’ve told ourselves that by creating awareness and through treatment, we will be able to reduce the number of pregnant women who are HIV-positive and who can transmit the infection to their children.”
Ilori noted that the national prevalence of HIV/AIDS remained at 1.3 per cent.
“Women account for 59 per cent of this population, which is more than males.
“Young people from 15 to 49 years of age account for most of the new infections. It’s popular among the younger generation. Of course, 15 to 49 years is the reproductive age for women especially. That’s when they start their sexual debut, relationship, and all that.
“We’ll say it is popular among women biologically because of the way the woman’s body is. In terms of sexual intercourse, their reproductive system makes them a bit vulnerable, and with this, the virus can enter their body system,” the NACA DG said.
She appealed to Nigerians to stop stigmatising those living with HIV/AIDS.
“I want to appeal to our people to stop the stigma and discrimination. We will be doing ourselves more harm than good when we stigmatise these people.
“When we discriminate against them, they won’t be able to come out to get tested, while those who are tested will not come to the hospitals to get medications.
“With this, the viral load will be high and they will keep infecting other people.
“I think we should encourage them as much as possible. We have to emphasise that living with people with HIV, shaking their hands, hugging and being in the same office with them cannot cause HIV infection. But unfortunately, stigma is still very much with us,” Ilori added.
