Medical experts observe that the incidence of HIV and AIDS in Nigeria poses a serious threat to the socio-economic development of the country.
They posit that the incidence reduces life expectancy, increases the level of poverty, destabilises the economy and affects the health and welfare of the populace.
Quoting statistics provided by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), they raise concern over a report that Nigeria has the second highest number of new infections reported each year.
Available record from the agency also indicates that more than 210,000 people died from AIDS in Nigeria in 2011while the same record places the national life expectancy at 52 years.
This report notwithstanding, stakeholders insist that access to antiretroviral therapy has prevented some HIV cases from progressing to AIDS — the final stage of HIV infection that can lead to death.
They, nonetheless, note that the prevalence is much lower in Nigeria than in other African countries such as South Africa and Zambia.
They also observe further that the size of Nigeria’s population of more than 170 million people makes the country to be rated the second highest burden in Africa with an estimated 3.4 million people living with HIV.
They call for more proactive programmes to control the spread of the virus; especially in programmes on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) coverage.
“Nigeria also has more than 30 per cent of the global burden of maternal to child transmission of HIV.
“PMTCT coverage stands at 27 per cent in 2013 which is still well below the desired target of 80 per cent and as a result, an estimated 60,000 children are born annually with HIV infection.
“HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) remains an essential entry port to HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support,’’ they suggest.
But Dr Bilali Camara, Country Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had good programmes to control the incidence.
According to him, Nigeria has been able to focus attention on the major interventions in the areas where it can achieve success.
“The President’s Comprehensive Response Plan for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (PCRP) is a tool designed to respond to the system and service delivery challenges facing the HIV and AIDS response in Nigeria,’’ he observed.
He said at a forum recently that PCRP sought to intensify global efforts to eliminate HIV and AIDS.
He said that UNAIDS believed that the integration of the HIV and AIDS interventions to some programmes had increased the number of people accessing drugs for the treatment of the disease.
“Between January and April 2015, the number of people accessing HIV and AIDS treatment has increased from 600,000 to 800, 000.
“Integrating the HIV testing in the Maternal and Child Health Week (when the whole package of ante-natal care is offered free including HIV testing and counseling) has increased the number of pregnant women accessing PMCT in states with high burden of HIV/AIDS.
“The integration has been working well in the fight to eliminate the scourge in the country; it has been applied in Nigeria for a year and a half now and it has yielded the desired result.
“In 2013, Benue had just tested 54, 000 pregnant women, but with the integration, 58,000 pregnant women were tested during the celebration of the week in December 2014.
“The same strategy worked in Kaduna and some other states within the same period,’’ he said.
He attributed the achievement to the personal intervention of Jonathan, growing public awareness and patronage of the services provided by NACA to fight HIV and AIDS.
Sharing similar sentiments, Prof. John Idoko, Director-General, NACA, said the goal of the programme was to accelerate the implementation of key interventions between 2014 and 2015.
Speaking recently in Abuja, he said that that the plan was designed to bridge existing service gaps and address key financial and health systems.
“It is also designed to coordinate challenges and promote greater responsibility for the HIV response at federal and state levels.
“The PCRP aims to avail 80 million men and women aged 15 years and older with knowledge of their HIV status; enroll additional 600,000 eligible adults and children on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART).
“It will provide ART for 244,000 HIV pregnant women for PMTCT and activate 2,000 new PMTCT and ART service delivery ports across the country’’, Idoko said.
According to him, the effect of the control efforts is that the HIV and AIDS prevalence has dropped in the country.
He attributed the decrease in the rate of HIV infection in the country to extensive public awareness of the virus and patronage of HIV related services by Nigerians.
Idoko said that N8billion would be sourced for the support of the PCRP from Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).
Throwing light on the involvement of SURE-P in the programme, Dr Sebastian Wakdok, Project Director NACA/SURE-P HIV/AIDS, said the National HIV Counselling and Testing Campaign began in December 2014 in five pilot states and FCT.
“This free medical outreach is to avail people the knowledge about their HIV status while those found to be positive would be given care and support.
“Ailments such malaria, typhoid, hypertension and others were also treated and referrals were made when necessary,’’ Wakdok said.
Assessing the efforts so far, concerned citizens appraise the administration of Jonathan, noting that it has good strategies, perspectives and ideas towards eliminating HIV and AIDS in the country.
They, therefore, urge the incoming government to build on the existing structures and move towards achieving the desired goals of making Nigeria HIV and AIDS free.
