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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Osotimehin decries low awareness on HIV/AIDS
DESPITE sustained enlightenment campaign in the country, research has revealed that a good number of Nigerians still do not believe that HIV/AIDS is real, according to the chairman of the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA), Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin.
He disclosed this on Monday after a meeting of the Presidential Council at the State House, Abuja, that of the 90 per cent of Nigerians, who know about HIV/AIDS, only a negligible 20 per cent believe it is real.
According to him, "you will be surprised that 90 per cent of Nigerians know about it, but only about 20 per cent believe it is real. Only very few of us do things about it in terms of how to change our behaviours. The strategy we are presenting is one that will ensure that there are common platform to ensure that everybody can speak about it."
Osotimehin stated that his committee presented to the Presidential Council an information management system that would ensure that it captured all that was happening in the world and report back to the people.
Noting that there was a lot of work to be done in this direction, he explained that the prevalence rate of the disease now stands at five per cent, down from 5.8 per cent.
On the availability of anti-retroviral drugs in the country, Osotimehin said efforts had been geared towards improving on it with the local manufacturing of the drugs being vigorously pursued.
Nigeria, he added, would benefit from the global fund for HIV/AIDS as well as the President George Bush's initiative on the disease, expressing hopes that the 15,000 Nigerians currently being treated with the drugs would increase to 30,000 before the end of the year.
Later, a statement from the Office of the Special Assistant to the President (Media) said President Olusegun Obasanjo at the meeting commended donor agencies for their assistance to Nigeria in the fight against the dreaded disease and assured that all funds had been deployed properly.
He said the administration would continue to support efforts to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, as the level of prevalence was still too high.
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