NIGERIA: Disturbing numbers - HIV/AIDS committee

Some four million people in Nigeria are currently living with HIV/AIDS, the country's National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) has said.

While addressing the recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the chairman of NACA, Prof Babatunde Oshotimehin, said the disease was growing at an alarming rate, especially in rural areas.

"The statistics are disturbing, the pandemic is nationwide and is not restricted to geographical zones... It is no longer an urban problem, as many people are afflicted in the rural areas," the local Daily Trust newspaper quoted Oshotimehin as saying.

He said while only 10,000 people living with HIV/AIDS were currently accessing antiretroviral drugs through national treatment programmes, government efforts had been stepped up to provide more drugs.

Meanwhile, the FEC recently approved a new National Policy on HIV/AIDS, aimed at information and sensitisation.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews, Children,

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