The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AIDS

  • 970,000 People Died of AIDS in 2017

    15,000 people from over 100 countries have gathered in Amsterdam, Netherlands for the largest AIDS Conference which would hold from 23rd to 27th of July.
    Welcoming delegates across the world at the opening ceremony on Monday evening, the Minister of Foreign Trade in Netherlands, Sigriel Kaag noted that in 2017, 970,000 people passed away of AIDS adding that 27 million people are currently living with AIDS.
    The Minister lamented that out of the 27 million, only 22 million of the people have access to therapy and adequate health care noting that over 30 per cent new infections are recorded yearly.
    She stated that despite the fact that the infection have been in existence for over 30 years, experts and scientists have not been able to come about the root cause that causes the virus to grow.
    Kaag called on governments of nations to look into ways of reducing the stigma faced by people affected with HIV/AIDS and ensure that their rights are protected.
    She stated that the government of Netherlands is committing $10 million to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) which is a new way people can protect themselves from HIV adding that the funds would be meant for communities that have been unreached for so long.
    In her address, the President of the International AIDS Society, Linda-Gail Bekker said the conference would look at the latest science innovation in HID treatment, cure and the latest underground strategies towards prevention.
    She added that the conference would have 3,000 abstracts over 150 sessions in the period of four days.

  • Ending HIV, AIDS by 2030: NACA extends strategic outreach programme

    The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) says it has further extended its Strategic Travelers’ Outreach Programme (STOP) to some West African states as one of the approaches aimed at ending HIV and AIDS in 2030.

    Dr Sani Aliyu, Director-General, NACA, said in Abuja on Friday that the agency would conduct sensitisation programme as part of STOP on the platform of Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organisation (ALCO).

    He said the success of the previous STOP programme in 2013 along key transport corridors in Kano (Wudil), Kogi (Obajana), Enugu (Obollo-Afor) and Ogun (Shagamu), informed the choice of ALCO as a veritable platform for sensitising more people to the need for fighting HIV and AIDS.

    According to him, NACA engages a reputable AIDS service organisation and through a collaborative and community-driven process, designs STOP which has been useful as one of the approaches to stopping HIV and AIDS.

    He said the previous survey revealed several social structures indicative of high levels of transactional sex.

    “The associated knowledge, attitude and practice survey showed that a majority of respondents were sexually active transport workers and over a third of them had between two and five sex partners within a year.

    He also said 62 per cent of transport workers reported more than one regular sexual partner, observing that only 7 per cent of the respondents reported mean sex with their spouses.

    “Majority of respondents knew a location where they could get tested but only about half of the respondents had ever been tested for HIV.

    “Knowledge about condoms was high, with 93 per cent having heard about condoms at all the survey sites but only 70 per cent of all the respondents reported having ever used a condom.

    “The assessment also showed that there are still gaps between the knowledge of HIV and sexual behavior necessary to curb the spread of HIV as well as high risk behavior along the transport corridors of Nigeria.

    Read Also: NACA to check high prevalence of HIV among key populations

    He said the findings would enable NACA and other stakeholders plan and pilot interventions to identify and address policy issues and develop relevant strategies for effective interventions.

    According to him, the goal of NACA is to address all HIV and AIDS challenge prevalent in Nigeria, Ghana, Republic of Benin, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire corridors through the support of ALCO.

    Speaking on the importance of transport workers in the programme, Dr Anthonia Ekpa, a director in the Federal Ministry of Transportation, said it was imperative to stimulate them for the purpose of getting them to know what their responsibilities ought to be in that regard.

    “We have an overriding responsibility to bring them together in the ministry and advise them on what to do as they constitute sections of the society

    In his remark, Dr Erasmus Morah, Country Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), applauded ALCO initiative.

    He said transport workers and those who could identify themselves as sex workers were involved in the programme because their activities affected the economy and social life that needed collaboration.

    ALCO is a sub-regional organisation that supports policies for development, health and free movement in its member states Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo.

    ALCO is an actor in the coalition’s health to identify and validate currently known key drivers in the management of the epidemic in the corridors.

    NAN

     

  • China, UNAIDS launch zero discrimination social media campaign

    China, UNAIDS launch zero discrimination social media campaign

    The United Nations has launched its “Zero Discrimination” social media campaign in China this year, hoping to raise awareness of discrimination in the country.

    Nicholas Rosellini, UN Resident Coordinator in China, is encouraging Chinese citizens to participate in the campaign, by using drawings, pictures, gifs, audio and video to show support for the campaign in his speech at a news conference organised by UNAIDS China.

    “Everyone has the right to live a life free from discrimination regardless of HIV status, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, other personal characteristics or identification,’’ Rosellini said.

    Shen Jie, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control, called on governments, society and communities to “speak out for love” to help AIDS patients, especially children, to become braver and better embrace life.

    According to the National Centre for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention under the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, China recorded a total of 747,000 people with HIV as of September 2017.

    As of the end of June, about 542,000 HIV-positive people had received medical treatment and mortality was notably reduced.

    Xinhua/NAN

  • ‘Keep the promise on AIDS to Nigerians’

    The last decade witnessed great uncertainty in Nigeria’s HIV treatment program – a period of pseudo-scientists laying claims to cures and operating without checks. A time that help was assumed to be more in miracle centres than in hospitals.

    A phase of general and entrenched misconception of what HIV really is, its routes of transmission and of lived realities of being HIV positive. It was a time of unending stigma – at home and in healthcare settings, discernible with rejection by loved ones and by society at large. It was a period of recurrent drug stock-outs, of expired antiretroviral medications in circulation. It was cruel faith at those times to be HIV positive, while it took even greater courage and strong will to survive.

    I have lost some wonderful friends to AIDS, just like other Nigerians who also lost loved ones. The death of one of my friends was, particularly, painful, having shared of her struggles and passion to live. This friend was a fighter. She endured unimaginable rejection by almost everyone in her life. She first lost her marriage, was driven away from her place of worship, rejected and ejected from her family home where she returned to seek refuge, and later lost her only daughter. She had to battle with a co-infection of TB-HIV at a time that it was simply enough to deal with HIV. Eventually, she could no longer fight, she gave it all up.

    She was one courageous woman who lived by hope, despite her many challenges. At the period I referred, very few survived the twin onslaught wrought, first by the virus itself, and, of societal rejection which tends to kill more than the virus. Her story is that of many Nigerians, which a lot of people can readily relate to.

    But, we have a much improved environment, such that someone who is HIV positive but receiving recommended treatment is no longer able to transmit the disease to another person. Young ladies and men that I met then are now happy mothers and fathers, living life with great vitality, with their children growing up without HIV. Some of these men and women are occupying various leadership positions they never assumed possible. There is no gainsaying the fact of what has been achieved.

    As a confirmation of the changed fortune, and according to UNAIDS, since 2010, new HIV infections in Nigeria have declined by 21 per cent and AIDS-related deaths by six per cent. Among people living with HIV, almost 24 per cent are reported to have attained suppressed viral loads, which means they cannot transfer the virus to others while more people are becoming tolerant of the normalcy of living with HIV.

    Put in context however, these remains modest gains compared to the impressive achievements of nations that prioritised health funding, especially where promises on AIDS are being kept.

    With AIDS in Nigeria, there are yet big challenges to be surmounted, while it is alsoimperative to not roll back on the modest gains made. Nigeria’s HIV situation is a peculiar one demanding a peculiar solution. For instance, majority of Nigerians who are HIV positive in the country are unaware of their status, having not tested at all.

    Dr. Sanni Aliyu, the Director-General (DG) of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), put the figure of Nigerians who have ever taken an HIV test once at 10 per cent of the population, for a country of 180 million people.

    Whereas, Nigeria’s HIV epidemic impacts all population groups and geographic areas of the country. It remains the second largest epidemic globally at 3. 2 million, while only 30 per cent of those needing treatment can access it, according to UNAIDS. In 2016 according to UNAIDS, Nigeria recorded 220, 000 new HIV infections, one of the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Same year, she recorded 160, 000 AIDS-related deaths.

    Among pregnant women living with HIV, only 32 per cent are on treatment. The fate of the remaining 68 per cent and their unborn babies is best imagined. No wonder, about 37, 000 children became newly infected with HIV in 2016 while only nine states of 36 have surpassed 50 per cent Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) coverage.

  • ‘HIV, AIDS cases drop in Lagos’

    ‘HIV, AIDS cases drop in Lagos’

    Lagos has recorded a drop in HIV/AIDS prevalence, the  Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Oluseyi Temowo, has said.

    He stated this at the World AIDS Day, which had as theme: Right to health: Making it happen.

    He said: “We know that there is a drop of 1.7 percent, and the screening done among communities the prevalence rate is 0.3 percent, whereby 576, 406 were screened at different health facilities, and 29, 010 were screened at communities.

    ‘’The figure on positive expectant mothers at antenatal in 2014 is four percent but now, we have 1.4 percent.’’

    He said there are about 217, 658 positive people in the state, and about 64, 554 who are on Anti-retroviral (ARV).

    Temowo said the state was planning to screen physically challenged people living with for HIV, starting with the deaf and the blind.

    “This set of people were neglected before but the decision to enlist them is to ensure nobody is left behind in ensuring that the state captured everybody for an HIV/AIDS state,” he said.

    Temowo urged non- governmental organisations to collaborate with the state on HIV/AIDS to focus on villages, communities and rural areas to achieve the set target of  eradicating the virus by 2030.

    The agency held a talk at Ipodo Market in Ikeja. This was followed by a walk, which started from Obafemi Awolowo Way, passed through Allen Roundabout, and ended at the Office of the President-General of Nigeria Market Men and Women Association, Mrs Folasade Tinubu-Ojo.

    Temowo said the agency would screen for HIV in some markets at Ikorodu and Epe divisions, and in some parts of Ikeja and Alimosho divisions.

    “The market HIV intervention will continue after the World AIDS Day on December 1.We are targeting the market because it is an all-inclusive thing to achieve 90:90:90,” he said.

    At the events, participants were given branded pouches. According to Temowo, the message of the day, is to encourage consumers to screen voluntarily so Lagos could be HIV and AIDS free.

    The market men and women  expressed happiness with the walk. They promised to comply with the agency’s requirements.

     

  • West, Central Africa left behind in Global HIV response

    West, Central Africa left behind in Global HIV response

    More than four decades into the HIV epidemic, four in five children living with HIV in West and Central Africa are still not receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy, and AIDS-related deaths among adolescents aged 15-19 are on the rise, according to a new report released today.While acknowledging progress in several areas, the report Step Up the Pace: Towards an AIDS-free generation in West and Central Africa, jointly published by UNICEF and UNAIDS, shows that West and Central Africa is lagging behind on nearly every measure of HIV prevention, treatment and care programmes for children and adolescents. In 2016, an estimated 60,000 children were newly infected with HIV in West and Central Africa.

    “It is tragic that so many children and adolescents today are not receiving the treatment they need just because they have not been tested,” said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s West and Central Africa Regional Director. “We need to make better use of innovations to increase early diagnosis and improve access to HIV treatment and care for children. For example, the point-of-care technology diagnostic brings testing closer to where children attend health services and self-testing can be a good option for adolescents who may be more comfortable with it.”

    The region’s coverage of life-saving antiretroviral therapy among children living with HIV is the lowest in the world because many countries have limited capacity to perform the tests needed for early infant diagnosis of HIV. Without knowing a child’s HIV status, his or her family is less likely to seek the treatment that could prevent the tragedy of a child’s death from AIDS-related illnesses.

    The situation is worse among adolescents. The annual number of new HIV infections among those aged 15–19 years in the region now exceeds that of children aged 0-14 years. These new infections occur mostly through unprotected sexual contact and among adolescent girls. Equally concerning, according to the report, is that West and Central Africa has recorded a 35 percent increase in the annual number of AIDS-related deaths among adolescents aged 15-19 years — the only age group in which the number of AIDS-related deaths increased between 2010 and 2016.

    With the region’s youth population expected to grow significantly within the coming decades, especially in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, the numbers of children and adolescents becoming infected with HIV and dying from AIDS is likely to remain high, unless the HIV response – both prevention and treatment – improves dramatically.

    The report highlights that the 24 countries that make up the West and Central Africa region are home to 25 percent of children aged 0–14 years living with HIV worldwide.

    “Leaders of the region have endorsed a Catch-Up plan aiming to triple the number of people on treatment in the region – including children – by the end of 2018, the key issue now is to accelerate implementation,” said Luiz Loures, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director. “Countries should urgently put in place more effective strategies for early infant diagnosis of HIV, and start reducing inequity in children’s access to treatment.”

    The report proposes key strategies that will enable countries to accelerate progress in curbing the spread of disease. These include:

    1. A differentiated HIV response focusing on unique epidemiological and local contexts in each country and community.

    2. The integration of HIV services into key social services including health, education, and protection.

    3. Community ownership and local governance of the HIV response including working with families, better placed to help reduce stigma, access prevention, and treatment.

    4. Investment in innovations to remove barriers to scale-up including new diagnostic and biomedical approaches such as point of care diagnostics, HIV self-testing, and pre-exposure prophylaxis.

    UNICEF announced last week that at the current pace of progress, the global 2020 Super-Fast-Track targets to end AIDS among children will not be achieved.

  • 2,714 People live with HIV and AIDS in Niger

    No fewer than 2, 714 persons are currently living with HIV and AIDS in Niger State. The state Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Makusidi Muhammad, has revealed.

    While briefing newsmen in Minna, the Permanent Secretary said that 126,126 individuals received HIV testing services in the state in the past one year.

    According to him, out of the figure of those tested,  2,714 tested positive out of which, 2,312 presented themselves to be enrolled into receiving Anti-retroviral Therapy, (ART), services in various health facilities in the state.

    Muhammad disclosed that early sexual debut, contiguity of female sex workers, psychoactive substance abuse, low HIV testing services uptake, low condom use, transfusion of unscreened blood and poor management of STIs is the reason for the increasing rate of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the state.

    Muhammad, who was represented by the Director Public Health,  Mohammed Usman, stated that the state has experienced a progressive decline in the prevalence of HIV and AIDS from 6.2% in 2008 to 1.7% in 2014, the lowest currently in the north central zone.

    He lamented that stigma and discrimination still remain the major barrier to an effective fight against the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Muhammad said, “people find it difficult to disclose their HIV status for the fear of rejection from relations and community, this will hinder 90-90-90 global targets of achieving 90% of the people living with HIV knowing their status. Because 90% of the people who know their status are receiving ART and 90% of the people receiving ART having suppressed viral loads and push epidemic into an irreversible decline.”

    He said that the ministry has set up 310 Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV and AIDS services (PMTCT) sites across the states and has established blood banks for safe transfusion.

     

  • Kano to propose compulsory HIV Testing bill

    Kano to propose compulsory HIV Testing bill

    The Kano State Government said on Friday that it had been working to propose a bill on compulsory HIV/AIDS testing for all new couples in the state.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr Kabiru Getso, disclosed this at a news conference to commemorate the World HIV/AIDS day in Kano.

    He said that the Ganduje administration had taken health as a priority and was working tirelessly to ensure quality healthcare delivery services in the state.
    Dr Getso explained that the state government, in collaboration with the state Hisbah Board, had proposed the bill, which was awaiting passage at the state house of assembly.

    According to him, “The state government had demonstrated concern about the care and control of HIV/AIDS by giving the scourge all the necessary attention it required’’.

    Read also: Kaduna: Ganduje spends N1billion on PHC delivery

    He stressed that the state government established the State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA), in order to record the progress and achievements so far witnessed in the control of AIDS in the state.

    “The state has, however, approved the sum of over N443 million to carry out many interventions and outreach services, as well as to create awareness across the state,’’ Getso said.

    The Commissioner said the government would continue to support people living with HIV/AIDS and would continue to create awareness on the prevention of the disease.

    The World Health Organization has declared every December 1st to be World HIV/AIDS Day, to give succour to people living with HIV/AIDS in the state

    NAN

  • GSK starts big African study of injectable drug to prevent HIV

    GSK starts big African study of injectable drug to prevent HIV

    ViiV Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK ) Plc’s HIV unit, said on Thursday it started an African study to evaluate long-acting injectable drug for the prevention of its infection in sexually active women.

    ViiV Healthcare said in a statement that the cabotegravir study seeks to enroll 3,200 women aged 18 to 45 years from sub-Saharan African countries,.

    The “HPTN” 084 Phase III study will evaluate injections given every two months, ViiV Healthcare said.

    The company said that the study is being conducted through a public-private funding by ViiV Healthcare, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Viiv Healthcare in 2016 had started a large study on HIV-uninfected men and transgender women who have sex with men to test an experimental long-acting injection for preventing the virus that causes AIDS.

    Reuters/NAN

    Read Also: World AIDS Day: NGO screens 4.5m Nigerians for HIV

  • On World AIDS Day 2017

    On World AIDS Day 2017

    SIR: Nigeria presently has an estimated 3.2 million people living with HIV, the second largest burden in the world after South Africa, but only an estimated 1.1 million of these know their status (just over 30%). Though 88% of those who know their status are on treatment and 81% of those have achieved viral suppression, the statistics look worse when put in the perspective of the total number of people living with HIV, revealing that only 30% of people living with HIV in Nigeria are on treatment. This means that we still have a long way to go in ending AIDS in Nigeria despite the 90-90-90 target.

    Between 2010 and 2016, new infections in Nigeria reduced by just 5% and the total number of people living with AIDS increased slightly. Most new infections are among the heterosexual population but key populations like men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who inject drugs are estimated to contribute about 40% of the total HIV burden in Nigeria.  Only 24.4% of people aged 15-24 have knowledge of HIV prevention, the report also showed a low to average usage of condom among individuals aged 15 – 49 years.

    Achieving 90-90-90 and ultimately zero AIDS involve community effort. We must all work together to push for behavioural change for men to reject harmful versions of masculinity, prioritizing and protecting key populations, empowering women and girls. It is also key that stigma and discrimination are addressed, as these serve as barriers to people who need access.  More work also needs to be done on educating and informing Nigerians on safe sexual practices especially condom usage and other HIV prevention strategies.

    We must address harmful masculine gender norms, which contribute to greater risk-taking and poorer uptake of health services among men as well as criminalization and high levels of stigma and discrimination of members of key populations. Consent laws and insufficient access to comprehensive sexuality education deny young people the services and knowledge they need.

    We must continue to aggressively work towards ensuring that 90% of those who are living with HIV know their status, and improve on linkage of newly detected positives to sites where they can access treatment. This must also be coupled with increased capacity for offering treatment especially in underserved areas and locations.  The prospect of achieving this goal has increased with new deals on more effective and cheaper dolutegravir, a medication used for HIV treatment, which will be made available next year in African countries, as well as the ongoing test and start strategy. Most importantly, we must hold our government accountable to increase its funding to tackle AIDS and quit relying only on external donor funding.

    Yes, 90-90-90 is possible in Nigeria. Together we can end AIDS.

     

    • Dr. Owoyemi Ayomide,

    Lagos.