As statistics from UNAIDS revealed that a total of 180,000 Nigerians have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS pandemic, Centre for the Right To Health, CRH, has called for the reinforcement of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV, in schools as part of strategies to halt the spread among adolescents.
In a chat with Vanguard during a sensitisation programme/presentation of award to outstanding healthcare workers by CRH to mark this year’s World AIDS Day in Lagos, the Programme Director, CRH, Mrs Christy Ekerete-Udofia said scaling up HIV programmes in primary, secondary schools including Universities would help the country to achieve the 90-90-90 targets for testing, treatment and viral suppression by 2030.
Ekerte-Udofia who stressed the need for government to adequately fund HIV programmes in Schools, noted that a total of 35 million people in the world have died as a result of HIV/AIDS while a total of 180,000 died in Nigeria, according to data from UNAIDS.
Admitting that Nigeria is on track as regards to the 90 -90-90 targets, she noted that the country has not done enough in terms of reducing spread of HIV among adolescents.
“In countries like South Africa, before an adolescent goes to school, packs of condoms are stuck in their bags but in Nigeria, our perception about condom use has not change.
Condom is still a taboo. Many of them out of peer pressure get initiated into sexual act very early in life and they are not able to negotiate condom use. “If we are able to curb the spread in schools we will be able to reduce HIV among adolescents”, she said.
Acknowledging that a lot of positive things have been achieved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, she said: “Being diagnosed with HIV today means something different than it was 30 years ago, HIV is no longer a death sentence but people’s attitudes can make living with HIV really hard, hence the need to end stigma.”
Ekerete- Udofi lamented the economic consequences of AIDS as it affects development, adding that in many places the stigmatisation of HIV infected individuals still adds to its devastating impact.
“CRH is currently contributing its quota to the fight against HIV through its SHiPs for MarPs Project, One stop shop, OSS, for free treatment of HIV which is fully in operation.
“At the treatment centre, individuals are counselled, tested and positive persons are placed on treatment free of charge.
“In this centre we have been able to see that 90 percent of people get tested, 90 percent tested are placed on treatment and 90 percent retain treatment. We have reduced to the barest minimum their level of viral loads. That we have been able to achieve so far.”
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