NIGERIA, THE COUNTRY WITH THE 3RD LARGEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV!

Did you know that 1 in every 55 people are living with HIV in Cross river state???

With HIV prevalence amongst adults between the ages of 15 and 49 at 3.9 percent and little or no formal connection with the public health system where most HIV interventions are delivered, Nigeria has the third-largest number of people living with HIV. Young women in the country are at a higher risk than the male and the HIV epidemic in Nigeria is complex in nature and it also varies widely by location. Some states, have the epidemic more concentrated and driven by high-risk behaviors, while other states have more generalized epidemics that are sustained primarily by multiple sexual partnerships in the general population. There are many risk factors that contribute to the spread of HIV, including prostitution, high-risk practices among itinerant workers, high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI), clandestine high-risk heterosexual and homosexual practices, international trafficking of women, and irregular blood screening...though the government claims to have institutions in place to answer these questions, but the figures are in wide contrast to this stand.

The large private sector is largely unregulated and, more importantly, has no formal connection to the public health system where most HIV interventions are delivered. Training and human resource development is severely limited in all sectors and will hamper program implementation at all levels. Care and support is limited because existing staff are overstretched and most have insufficient training in key technical areas to provide complete HIV services...the long term effect of this, is that the nation has to battle with the after effects of this or decide to take a concrete step to answer this now!!!