Nigeria has over 51% of new HIV cases in West, Central Africa
Africa’s biggest economy has more than 51 percent of people living with HIV in west and central region of Africa, according to a new report on new HIV infections by United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).
“West and central Africa continue to be a problem. Nigeria, for example, has seen more than 51 per cent of all new cases in the region, but only 33 per cent of its people living with HIV are receiving treatment,” the UNAIDS report said during a press conference in Paris yesterday.
The UNAIDS has over the years being a main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
“This latest report is not particularly surprising considering the present state the country is in. When you consider that the budget for health by the government is way below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended level or the incessant strike actions by various components of health workers, then this is one of the things to expect,”Oluniyi Olatunde ,a medical doctor , Isolo General Hospital said to BusinessDay on phone
“There is also the massive brain drain being experienced in the country. All these ensures that there is only minimal interaction with health workers,”
“The increasing level of hardship and poverty in the country also inadvertently impacts on the health seeking behaviour of the populace,”
Olatunde also noted that the bulk of the burden of care of the affected population is being borne by the International NGOs and that is not good enough.
Globally, the number of new HIV infections is declining, more people than ever are receiving treatment and deaths due to the disease and its complications are falling, but progress remains precarious, warns a new UN report.
Also from the report, the number of new HIV cases has been declining globally for 17 years. In 2017, it declined by 35.7 percent to 1.8 million from 2.8 million in 2000 but the number of people living HIV has been on the increase rising by 34.7 percent to 36.9 million from 27.4 million in 2000.
“We are sounding the alarm. The entire regions are falling behind, the huge gains we made for children are not being sustained, women are still most affected, resources are still not matching political commitments and key populations continue to be ignored.” Michel Sidibé, the executive director of UNAIDS, told reporters
UNAIDS has a target of having a fewer than 500 000 AIDS-related deaths by 2020 but the pace of decline in new HIV cases is not fast enough to reach their target
Sidibé said,”Due to the impact of antiretroviral therapy roll-out, the number of AIDS-related deaths is the lowest this century (940 000), having dropped below 1 million for the first time in 2016. Yet, the current pace of decline is not fast enough to reach the 2020 target of fewer than 500 000 AIDS-related deaths.”
Pertaining to Nigeria, Doctors have advised that the government needs to pay more attention to the health of the people and increases budgetary allocations to meet the needs of health workers.