Dr Gambo Aliyu, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS stated that the two main ways people are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus are through intercourse (sex) and syringes used by hard drug users.
According to Aliyu, sharing needles and syringes can also put individuals at risk of contracting HIV, as she warned in an interview with our correspondent. In spite of the fact that more individuals were coming for testing, he claimed stigmatisation was still an issue.
Inadequate blood transfusions and unintentional needle sticks among healthcare professionals, in his opinion, are additional means of HIV transmission.
In his words, “Sex is the commonest source of people contract HIV. Other potent sources are the injection (hard) drug users; they are the next. Those are the two most powerful sources of transmission of HIV.
“Apart from those two, all others are accidental; the ones that happen during blood transmission are not intended. It is minimal but it should not be happening. The needle prick should not happen if cautions are taken and prophylaxis is used properly. But these two are problematic.”
The NACA director went on to say that although the nation has achieved outstanding strides in enhancing access to HIV-related life-saving care and that the number of new HIV infections was dropping, stigma and prejudice remained significant obstacles to managing HIV and putting an end to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.
He stated:
“Now, people come and test for HIV more than before, and that is enough to tell you that they do not feel stigmatised. People have started coming forward to ask for HIV services; they want to be tested and if they are HIV positive, they call our centre to know where treatment services are provided.
“This is enough to say that having this number climbing shows that the amount of stigmatisation we have among people is declining because it is the stigmatisation and discrimination that put fear in people, and they find it very difficult to come forward. But now, people are coming forward for the services. That is not to say it does not exist, it is still our major barrier to controlling HIV and ending AIDS.”
He did, however, assert that Nigeria was on track to achieve the UN goal of eradicating AIDS by 2030.
“That second phase is a challenge because no country has passed through it. Countries are expected to develop sustainability plans and ownership, and this is something we started two years ago with Global Fund and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in the form of what we call alignment.
“We have done the alignment of 1.0; we are now at alignment 2.0. With these, Nigeria is ahead of every country in the world in terms of putting structures in place for country ownership and sustainability after 2030.”
