About 1.7million women and 380,00 children under age 15, are currently living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria according to the 2015 data by the National AIDS & STIs Control Program (NASCP) of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH).
Dr. Sunday Aboje, the National Coordinator of the National AIDS and STIS Control, of the Federal Ministry of Health this disclosed this at the three-day workshop organized for members of the Journalists Alliance for the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (JAPIN) in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State. He want all hands to be on deck to reduce the prevalence rate among children.
Dr. Aboje expressed disappointment that out of about 75,855 pregnant women that test positive in the year, only 53,677 received anti-retroviral drugs. “As a result of this, many babies have been exposed to HIV/AIDS through Mother To Child Transmission (EMTCT). Currently, Nigeria has the largest number of paediatric HIV cases in the world,” Taiwo Olakunle, who represented Dr. Aboje, said.
According to him, Nigeria’s HIV burden remains the second highest globally with 3.4 million people estimated to be living with the disease. He noted that the country is committed to the goal of eliminating mother to child transmission by 2020 and has initiated a number of strategies to achieve it.
