1.9 million people living with HIV in Nigeria – Buhari

<! – President Buhari receives the results of the survey on the Impact and Indicators of AIDS in Nigeria (NAIIS) that has just completed in Abuja on March 14, 2019 ->

President Buhari Receives Results of Recent Survey of AIDS Indicators and Impact in Nigeria, Abuja, March 14, 2019

Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari, announced here Thursday that the new HIV prevalence report puts the number of people living with the dreaded disease in the country at 1.9 million.

Buhari spoke while officially unveiling the results of the survey of the impact and indicators of HIV / AIDS in Nigeria (NAIIS) 2018 in Abuja.

Buhari said during the presidential announcement of the NAIIS result at the Aso Rock banquet hall that these results would be the future response to the country's HIV and AIDS epidemic.

He said the new prevalence of HIV and AIDS according to the results gives an estimate to 1.9 million people living with HIV in Nigeria.

According to him, it is an improvement over what was obtained in 2014, while it was estimated at 3.1 million the number of people living with the virus in the country .

Buhari also noted that the results would provide the government with the appropriate information that would allow the country to surpbad the 2030 goal of ending the epidemic.

"This outcome will provide the government with information to advance the fight against HIV based on scientific evidence. We already have a step forward in this regard.

"However, we can not celebrate yet because we are more committed to getting more people on treatment.

"Now that we have the data, I urge all of us to work together to make sure we deliver before 2030," he said.

He added that, in line with his government's commitment to health, the government would ensure that more people living with HIV benefit from free antiretroviral therapy.

Buhari also thanked the US government, PEPFAR, the Global Fund and all partners who contributed to the success of the survey.

It has, however, mandated the Ministry of Health and the National AIDS Agency (NACA) to work closely with governments of high HIV prevalence states by ensuring that the epidemic is radically reduced.

On June 28, 2018, the federal government launched the National AIDS Survey to determine the true distribution of HIV and AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C in the country.

The survey, which is the largest HIV survey in the world, reached more than 250,000 respondents, representing nearly 100,000 households in 774 local governments across the country.

The survey was completed at the end of December 2018.

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