Thursday, 01 December 2011 00:37
[size=14pt]S’South, N’East, N’Central most HIV endemic areas –Expert [/size]

Executive Director of Plateau State AIDS Control Agency, Dr. Francis Magaji, has described the South-South, North-East and North-Central as the most HIV endemic areas in the country.

He attributed the trend to the persistent ethno-religious crises in the areas. The director said however that the prevalence rate was not the same in some states in the three regions.

Magaji, who spoke on Wednesday at a workshop in Jos, Plateau State capital lamented that the state capital had continued to witness increasing number of people living with the virus because of the persistent crises, which appeared to have defied solution in the state.

He said, “The HIV scourge is stabilising nationally, but across the states is a mix bag. Whereas in some states it is reducing, in some others, it is rising. For others it has also been stabilising just as it is at the national level.

“The three geo-political zones in the country that are worst hit are the North-East, North-Central and South-South. This is because the three geo-political zones have been worst hit with conflicts in the past five years and this has a link with HIV/AIDS.”

He lamented the sudden rise in the number of people living with the disease in Plateau from 2.6 per cent in 2008 to 7.7 per cent in 2010 making it the sixth state in the country with people living with the dreaded disease.

Magaji said, “The last HIV zero-prevalence survey showed that Plateau State has prevalence of 7.7 per cent and the sixth out of 36 states and FCT with the highest HIV burden in Nigeria. Though it is unfortunate that the states with the highest rates are Benue (12.7 per cent); Akwa–Ibom (10.9 per cent); Bayelsa (9.1 per cent); Anambra (8.7 per cent); and FCT (8.6 per cent), this is based on statistics published and it is indeed very sad that the effort put in curbing the spread has been in the reverse.”

Executive Chairman of Civil Society, Dr. John Junung, represented by Rev. Lesmond Ezekiel, said the task of combating the HIV scourge in the country was a collective one irrespective of religion, ethnicity and political affiliation.

He added that the sudden rise in the number of people living with the disease, particularly in Plateau State as a result of persistent violence was a cause for concern.

Junung urged people to work together for the maintenance of peace in the state.

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