The National Agency for Control of AIDS says 98 percent of persons living with HIV in the country were on treatment, with 95 percent on viral suppression.
It noted that as of September, One Million, Six Hundred And Nineteen Thousand, One Hundred And Thirty-Three were on treatment, saying despite availability of free treatment, there were children less than 15 years living with HIV, difficult to find and put on treatment.
The Director-General, National Agency for Control of AIDS, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, spoke in Abuja at this year’s World AIDS Day, with the theme: Equalise to End AIDS: Equal Access to Treatment & Prevention Services.
He said new HIV infections gradually declined from 103,404 in 2019 to 92,323 in 2021, noting that there was significant growth in key population treatment centres, rising from 10 in 2017 with a coverage of 16,147 to 118 in 2021 with coverage of over 221,010.
He urged stakeholders, especially states, to address inequalities that pose barriers to ending the disease, and increase domestic funding for HIV interventions.
The Country Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, Dr. Leo Zekeng, and Executive Secretary of the Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund Nigeria, Dozie Ezechukwu, urged the country to ramp-up domestic funding for health interventions and programmes, as Nigeria cannot continue to rely on international donors.
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