A medical researcher, Dr Bamidele Iwalokun , has urged the three tiers of government and stakeholders in the nation’s heath sector to scale up HIV/AIDS testing and counselling among students.
Iwalokun, also the Head of Immunology and Vaccinology Research Group, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, made the plea on Friday in Lagos.
He spoke in an interview with the News Agency Nigeria (NAN) on the 2017 World AIDS Day.
According to Wikipaedia, every Dec.1, since1988, has been designated as the World AIDS Day to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease.
“Government and health officials, non-governmental organisations and individuals around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS prevention and control.”
The Day reminds the public and governments that HIV has not gone, but that there was still need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education on the scourge.
Theme for 2017 World AIDS Day is: “Increasing Impact Through Transparency, Accountability and Partnerships.”
Iwalokun said that HIV/AIDS was mostly prevalent among adolescents between 15 and 18 years and also among young adults in the country.
“An estimated 196,000 Nigerian adolescents live with HIV/AIDS, representing 10 per cent of the global AIDS burden in the country.
“Currently, over 50 per cent of new infections occurs among adolescent girls in the country.
“Most of Nigerian adolescents and young adults have low perception of risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
“Most of them engage in having sex with multiple partners and having unprotected sexual intercourse early in life.
“There is also evidence that adolescents have high tendency to stigmatise people diagnosed with AIDS.
“The implication is that they will usually be unwilling to get tested and counselled on AIDS, and made them potential reservoirs of AIDS in the country,” he said.
Iwalokun also urged the three tiers of government to fast track our strategy to be able to meet the 90/90/90 targets which helps to focus more on Nigeria adolescents by 2030.
“Governments should also ensure that 90 per cent of adolescents in Nigeria know their HIV/AIDS status,” the medical researcher said.
Iwalokun urged the governments to establish and implement legal and policy framework that would reduce the restrictiveness of parents to consent their adolescents to testing and counselling.
“With the availability of different classes of anti-retroviral drugs and distinct mode of actions now available in some health centres should be based on multi-disciplinary approach to care.
“This will make the journey of life-long treatment of AIDS among adolescents less stressful and more compliant,” he said. (NAN)
