Metro

Two million Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS— NACA

Published

3 months ago

July 6, 2024

The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Temitope Ilori, says an estimated two million Nigerians are living with HIV/AIDS.

Ilori, who disclosed this on Friday at a retreat organised for members of the House of Representatives Committee on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Lagos, stated that presently, around 1.7 million carriers were receiving treatment for the disease.

Speaking on the theme “Leadership For Sustainability Of The HIV Response: The Role of The Legislature,” the NACA DG highlighted the global goal of eradicating HIV/AIDS by 2030, noting the importance of legislative support in achieving sustainability and effective coordination of the national response.

“We are working with an average estimate of about 2 million Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS and about 1.7 million of them are on treatment,” she said.

“But be that as it may, we realise that in the past 20 years or so, most of the treatment and most of the national response are being funded by partners, international donors, and international aid.

“I think it is time we start talking about ownership and sustainability.

“We have what we call the new business model. This is trying to use both national and subnational structures to take ownership, and to sustain the national response.

“We have a target of eradicating HIV/AIDS by the year 2030 which is the global target and we are trying to work towards achieving this.

“So, we believe that as stakeholders in this project, the honorable members supervising us as the ATM committee should be well abreast of the situation as at today and what our roadmap and our vision and mission are, and how we want to achieve the target to ensure the sustainability and ownership of the national response.

“That is why we deem it fit. The objective is mainly to foster the commitment of you honourable legislators to the ownership and sustainability of the HIV response and also to facilitate the effectiveness of the HIV response in terms of coordination and oversight function which I know is your primary assignment.”

Nigeria Country Director of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Leo Zekeng, who also spoke at the retreat, emphasized the severity of the HIV/AIDS disease, noting that it had infected around 80 million people and caused 40 million deaths globally over the past half-century.

“Remarkable progress had been made in reducing new HIV infections. We estimated that in 2023, we registered about 75,000 new infections. This is 8,800 per week. We have registered 45,000 AIDs-related deaths. About 900 per week,” Zekeng said.

Zekeng harped on the unsustainability of donor-dependent funding and called for greater legislative involvement to sustain the HIV response, adding that Nigeria was falling short of the Abuja Declaration’s goal of allocating 15 percent of the national budget to health.

“We passed the Abuja declaration of spending 15 percent of our budget for health. We are getting merely around 5 percent. And you will agree with me this is unacceptable. Nigeria is a very rich country,” he noted.

Related Topics:Disease Featured HIV/AIDS Nigeria Virus

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Metro

Nigeria: President Tinubu identifies ways to address hunger

Published

23 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Isaac Dachen

President Bola Tinubu believes that the localisation of production processes and cost reduction are critical factors in addressing hunger and high cost of living in Nigeria.

Tinubu, who made the assertion at the 2024 National MSME Conference held in Abuja on Thursday, emphasised that the country’s economic challenges, especially food insecurity, stems from a reliance on imported goods and inefficient local production.

The president, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, noted that Nigerians experienced hunger because the country has not fully localised production processes that will help in reducing costs effectively.

“I also realise the importance of innovation and digitalisation to this purpose. There is no justice in creating an economy that is not sustainable for the coming generations,” the President said.

“Our constitution frowns upon it, I frown upon it, and morality frowns upon it. As a country, we are still suffering the effects of trying to shift from a crude-based economy which has left us debt-ridden.

“Thus, stating the role of MSMEs, said they were the engines of rural industrialisation, poverty alleviation, and sustainable development.

He further reiterated the government’s commitment to fostering a sustainable and innovation-driven economy while calling for collective efforts to enhance local production capabilities, stating that by reducing production costs, the government could improve access to essential goods and alleviate hunger.

Metro

Ghana reports ‘unclear variation’ of Mpox case

Published

24 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to a statement, Ghana’s health agency has reported the first incidence of Mpox in the nation this year, however, it did not specify which strain was reported.

Testing is being conducted to ascertain whether the Mpox virus, which is causing alarm worldwide due to its rapid spread and lack of knowledge about its strain, is the clade Ib type.

In Ghana, Mpox cases were previously reported in 2022 and 2023.

The patient was identified as a young man with body aches, a rash, and a fever in the statement. It stated that 25 contacts have been found and are under observation.

After the virus spread to neighbouring countries in August, the World Health Organisation declared a worldwide public health emergency for the second time in two years due to an outbreak of Mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The clade I variety of Mpox, which is endemic in some regions of West and Central Africa, and the recently emerged clade Ib, which is more contagious through close contact, including sexual contact, are the two strains that are spreading.

Mpox is a virus that can be transmitted from person to person through personal contact, as well as from place to person by objects and surfaces touched by a person infected with mpox.