The federal government has disclosed that approximately 170,000 Nigerians will be participating in the largest ever HIV/AIDS survey in the world under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).
This is coming as the United States government said it has spent almost $5 billion in HIV/AIDS programme and projects in Nigeria since 2004.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, while briefing the media in Abuja yesterday, said the conduct of the Nigeria AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) will help to improve the health indices in the country.
Adewole who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant, Community Health and Health Management, Mr. Araoye Segilola, said the data providded by the survey would help the government in channelling the resources where it will be needed most.
He said: “As long as this survey is concerned, it is the largest ever in the world. And because of our complexities as a country, size and population, this will help us to effectively deploy our resources.
“Through this survey, we will be able to reach the whole country and precisely by the end of the year the result will be out. This will definitely help us to plan better, know where to pay more attention and deploy resources appropriately.”
Earlier, the Director-General of NACA, Dr. Sani Aliyu, said the survey which is the 12th of its kind in the world to be conducted will help to establish the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country.
Aliyu said that NAIIS, which is part of the government’s efforts to improve the health indices of the populace, will help to determine the distribution of HIV and Hepatitis B & C in the country.
He stated that the survey, which starts mid-June to December, 2018 will also help to assess the uptake of HIV services at the population level and estimate the prevalence of HIV-related risk behaviours in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Source: This Day
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