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The history of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria
Nigeria has high HIV/AIDS numbers that are gradually climbing.
Almost 2 decades after the first reported cases were identified in Nigeria and the nation still has some of the highest statistics in HIV/AIDS around the world.
What is HIV/AIDS?
HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system. If untreated, a person’s immune system will eventually be completely destroyed.
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AIDS refers to a set of symptoms and illnesses that occur at the very final stage of HIV infection.
Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS epidemic is characterized by one of the most rapidly increasing rates of new HIV/AIDS cases in West Africa.
When was HIV/AIDS first reported in Nigeria?
The first two cases of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria were identified in 1985 and were reported at an international AIDS conference in 1986.
In 1987 the Nigerian health sector established the National AIDS Advisory Committee, which was shortly followed by the establishment of the National Expert Advisory Committee on AIDS (NEACA).
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The Nigerian Governments response to HIV/AIDS
The Nigerian government was slow to respond to the increasing rates of HIV transmission. It was in 1991 that the Federal Ministry of Health made their first attempt to assess Nigeria's AIDS situation.
The results showed that around 1.8 percent of the population of Nigeria at the time were infected with HIV. Reports also revealed that during the 1990s HIV infected victims rose from 3.8% in 1993 to 4.5% in 1998.
When Olusegun Obasanjo became the president of Nigeria in 1999, HIV prevention, treatment and care became one of the government’s primary concerns.
Also Read: 5 ways Nigerians are getting HIV/AIDS
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The President’s Committee on AIDS and the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) were created, and in 2001, the government set up a three-year HIV/AIDS Emergency Action Plan (HEAP).
Despite increased efforts to control the epidemic, by 2006 it was estimated that just 10 percent of HIV-infected women and men were receiving antiretroviral therapy and only 7 percent of pregnant women were receiving treatment to reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
In 2010 NACA launched its comprehensive National Strategic Framework to cover 2010 to 2015, which requires an estimated N756 billion to implement.
Challenges facing the fight against HIV/AIDS
Despite being the largest oil producer in Africa and the 12th largest in the world,13 Nigeria is ranked 158 out of 177 on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Poverty Index.
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This poor economic position has meant that Nigeria is faced with huge challenges in fighting its HIV and AIDS epidemic.
Also, there is a major lack of awareness still surrounding the virus and how it can be transmitted from an infected person. The stigmatization of infected patients is also considerably high still.
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