Prof John Idoko, Director-General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) said in Abuja on Monday that 432,000 People Living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (PLWHA) are no antiretroviral drugs.
Idoko told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that by 2014 those on the drugs would be almost 700,000.
“We are not where we were; we are certainly increasing. Two years ago we were just above 2,000, so this is an improvement.
“We still have about one million to go; 432,000 Nigerians are on antiretroviral drugs, we have a national plan to increase; all our funding mechanisms are planning to increase.
“We expect that in the next year or two we are going to increase by another 200,000 to 250,000 based on the figures of increment from PEPFAR, from the Global Fund and from the government of Nigeria.
“By 2014 we should certainly be hitting nearly 700,000.
Idoko said the country’s coverage of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission was 21 per cent while the total number of orphaned by AIDS was 2.23 million.
He added that the country’s national HIV and AIDS Strategic Framework II for 2010 to 2015 was to focus on prevention of new HIV infections.
According to him, the thematic areas of the framework were the promotion of combination of behaviour, biomedical and structural interventions.
Others are the treatment of HIV and related conditions, strengthening systems, coordination and resourcing and policy, advocacy and legal issues.
It also focuses on the country’s ownership, sustainability, transition and integration of TB, malaria and other health issues.
Idoko said the country’s prevalence rate of HIV had reduced from 4.6 per cent to 4.1 per cent, according to the 2010 sentinel survey.
According to him, much remained to be accomplished if future generation would live in a world in which the threat of AIDS had been overcome.
Idoko said the country must move to a response that was long-term and sustainable adding that with its current efforts, the prevalence rate would reduce further. (NAN)