AIDS claims 98,000 lives in Nigeria

Wednesday, Jul 12, 2006

The dreaded Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has claimed the lives of 78,000 persons and rendered 940,000 children as orphans in Nigeria.

The Information Officer of the United States Embassy in Nigeria, Dr Rudolph Stewart, who gave these figures, also said that, at least, 530,000 Nigerians are infected by the killer Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV).

Dr Stewart was speaking in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, at the kick-off of the first leg of a three-phased regional HIV/AIDS reporting training workshop for media practitioners in Nigeria put together by the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) in partnership with the US Embassy, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) and Internews Network.

The information officer indicated that the alarming increase in the sero-prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria from 1.8 per cent in 1988 to 5.8 per cent in 2001 had triggered concern not only among the Nigerian leadership but also within the US administration.

He said the launch of the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2001 was a pragmatic step to curb the spread of the HIV/AIDS in more than 120 countries, including 15 focus nations through a complex and diverse prevention, treatment and care strategy.

Stewart said the Bush administration committed approximately $840million in 2001, $1.153billion in 2002, and $1.476billion in 2003 to the implementation of the emergency plan, and increased the allocation to $2.4billion in 2004, $2.8billion in 2005 and $3.2billion in 2006, with a proposed $4billion for the plan in 2007.

He said that of the figures, PEPFAR had $59million in 2004, $89million in 2005 and $163.6million in 2006, to implement its prevention, treatment and care mandate in Nigeria, adding that the judicious utilization of the allocations has complemented both Nigerian government and donor agencies' efforts in the fight against the pandemic.

The embassy official noted that the result of the concerted efforts is the decrease in the sero-prevalence rate from 5.8 per cent in 2001 to 5.0 per cent in 2003 and 4.4 per cent in 2005.

Stewart said the US government plans to treat 350,000 PLWHA with antiretroviral vaccines (ARVs), prevent 1,145,545 new infections through counseling and testing and provide care and support to 1,750,000 HIV-affected persons including 1,350,000 on palliative care and 400,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) through its PEPFAR programme.

While declaring the workshop open, the wife of the Cross River State Governor and Vice Chairperson of the State Action Committee on AIDS (SACA), Mrs Onari Donald Duke, said the state government's unwavering commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS was evident from the huge financial allocation, time and energy put in the various strategies by government to eliminate the scourge in the state.

Mrs Duke admitted that stigma and discrimination had negatively affected the initial effort by the government but stressed that after persistent pressures, the government was now winning the battle, with most of the ignorant communities blinded by trado-cultural beliefs, accepting HIV-infected persons and people living positively with AIDS (PLPs) as part of the builders of their respective communities.

Speaking earlier, Head, Corporate Communication, National Action Committee on AIDS, Mr Sam Archibong estimated that, at least, 3.9million Nigerians were HIV-infected, and said the committee plans to treat about 250,000 infected persons with ARV.

Mr Achibong regretted that the number of HIV-infected persons in Nigeria has been menacingly pushed up by stigma and discrimination, and advised Nigerians to shun the twin forces of stigma and discrimination.

He encouraged “Nigerians to go to the nearest Heart-to-Heart centre for counseling and testing to enable them know their HIV status”, saying that “government has committed enormous resources to the war on HIV/AIDS, and would therefore, leave no stone unturned in the effort to win the battle” for the peace and happiness of the present and future generations.