The Anambra Aids Control Agency and the Ministry of Health have revealed that no fewer than 98,960 persons are living with HIV/AIDS in the state.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the figure was confirmed during a media briefing in Awka, on Thursday, by the State Commissioner for Health, Afam Obidike, ahead of the 2023 World AIDS Day.
Obidike disclosed that the state was making the needed progress towards the attainment of the Global 95-95-95 targets after it ranked fifth highest in the country.
He said: “With the national prevalence of 1.4 per cent, our state HIV prevalence is ranked 5th highest in the country and the highest in South-East.
“It is estimated that 98,960 residents are living with HIV. Of this number, 58 per cent know their status, and only 44,808 are currently on treatment.”
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“Worthy of note is the gradual decline in new infections, which is at 46 per cent between 2021 and 2023 and AIDS-related death which is at 32 per cent between 2021 and 2023.
“We have scaled up Prevention of Mother-to-child Transmission services to ensure that no woman transmits this infection to her baby.
“The good news is that with the advent of Anti Retro-viral Therapy, ART, HIV is no longer a death sentence.”
Also speaking, the Director of Public Health, Dr Afam Anaeme, described HIV/AIDS as one of the diseases of public health importance.
Anaeme said, “With the participation of everyone, we can reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Anambra.”
