All the stakeholders should do more to contain the scourge
Although the federal government has tried to downplay the decision by President Donald Trump to halt funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ( PEPFAR) one of the most consequential assistance programmes of the United States in Africa, authorities in Nigeria are now confronted with a huge burden. “Undoubtedly, PEPFAR Nigeria remains the biggest donor for the treatment programme in the country as their contributions cover approximately 90 per cent of the treatment burden,” said the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) Director General, Temitope Ilori. He however expressed optimism about domestic resource mobilisation strategies towards ownership. But the challenge is huge.
At a ceremony to mark the launch of Preventing Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and Paediatric AIDS Acceleration Plan Committee last year, then Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Tunji Alausa, painted a grim picture of the situation in Nigeria. “As you are aware, Nigeria contributes 25 per cent of the global burden of HIV transmission between mothers and their children,” said Alausa, now Minister of Education. “Despite testing approximately four million pregnant women in 2023, our Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) and paediatric HIV coverage remains at about 35 per cent, falling significantly short of the 95 per cent target.”
To compound the challenge, a recent report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) stated that Nigeria contributes 46 per cent of new infections among children in the West and Central African region and 18 per cent of the global figure. Furthermore, only about 30 per cent of children who need antiretroviral therapy (ART) are receiving it compared to 90 per cent of adults living with HIV while only about a third of pregnant women living with the virus are receiving antiretroviral treatment to prevent its transmission to their infants.
For sure, Nigeria has made significant gains in the battle against the menace. It reportedly achieved a 35 per cent reduction in new infections between 2005 and 2013, a no mean feat. But there are still dreary statistics of how many young people are still being infected through careless sexual habits. It is indeed worrisome that HIV/AIDS is still a serious public health issue with enormous negative impact on the health of Nigerians and the economy. Yet one of the key issues fingered by health authorities for the present scary situation is inadequate funding, but there are other challenges. For instance, less than 50 per cent of people needing anti-retroviral treatment have access while barely half the numbers of people living with HIV know their status.
With unprotected sex said to account for about 80 percent of new cases, health authorities in Nigeria must scale up their enlightenment campaigns, particularly in the rural areas, especially on the many risk behaviours that could lead to infections. According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), Nigeria ranks third among countries with highest burden of HIV infection in the world. The prevalence rate of Nigerians between the age bracket of 15 and 49 with HIV infections is also 3.1 per cent, making the country the second largest in Africa, after South Africa.
Given that the annual allocation for the health sector in Nigeria is far below the 13 per cent recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the 2001 African Union (AU) 15 per cent Abuja declaration, the recent decision by the Trump administration can only compound the challenge. We hope critical stakeholders in the country will rise to support NACA in helping to address the inequalities that hinder progress in ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. That will require both public and private sector collaboration in the country.
