NIGERIA: President worried by spread of HIV

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed concern over the spread of the HI virus, a local newspaper, PM News, reported.

At the opening of the country's 4th National Conference on HIV/AIDS recently in the capital, Abuja, the president said cases of HIV/AIDS had continued to rise in some parts of the country despite efforts to curtail its spread.

"This obviously means that we do not yet have the type of good news I am waiting for - that everywhere in Nigeria, the spread of the virus has been checked and also that the national prevalence rate is not more than two percent," Obasanjo said.

A sentinel survey by the Ministry of Health shows that five percent of Nigeria's estimated 126 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in 2003.

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

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]