Inter Press Service - Friday, November 6, 1998
Remi Oyo

Bayo Aderiye of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said the prevalence rate, especially among the commerical sex workers in Lagos, has risen from 37.2 percent in 1995 to 50 percent in 1998.

He told journalists last week that the HIV prevalence among STD patients also has risen from 15.1 percent in 1995 to 27 percent in 1998.

According to Aderiye, although most sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are curable, their increasing resistance to regular and low cost anti-microbial agents, coupled with a strong correlation between the spread of STDs and HIV transmission, had prompted Nigeria's health authorities to address the epidemic.

At a joint press conference in Abuja last week, the ministers of health, information, federal capital territory, education and women affairs called for concerted action to curb the spread of the disease.

State Minister for Health, Dr Abubakar Ali-Gombe, said 50 percent of all new infections of AIDS are occurring among young persons and the number is increasing.

Ali-Gombe also disclosed that an estimated 1,000 Nigerians are infected daily, bringing the total annual infection in Africa's most populous country to 365,000.

During the press conference, the ministers announced that more than 27 million Naira (more than 300,000 U.S. Dollars) has been allocated to conduct an anti-AIDS campaign in Nigeria.

The campaign will include the compulsory screening of all pregnant women for AIDS as part of the routine pre-natal care in all hospitals across the country. The Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja hopes that the early detection of the disease will reduce the risks of passing the infection from mother to the unborn child. In a 1996 survey, about 4.5 percent of pregnant women tested HIV-positive, according to the Ministry of Health.

"Screening of pregnant women is already taking place in most specialist hospitals. The problem is the cost of drugs for the treatment of the disease. It is way beyond the reach of the majority of citizens", said Bosede Ajagunna, a pharmacist in Lagos.

The drugs for treating AIDs symptoms, Ajagunna said, cost up to 1,300 US dollars a month, in a country where the minimum monthly wage is 5,200 Naira (less than 60 U.S. Dollars)

"AIDS is a chronic illness that lasts for months or years. Thus persons living with AIDS may have to spend a lot of time travelling between home and hospitals to seek medical advice", said Olufemi Oke of Family Health International, a non- governmental organisation.

The organisation has urged the government to provide treatment for all those living with AIDS without prejudice. It also called for the training of healthcare workers on the prevention and management of the disease.

"Those of us who have tested positive are not happy with our health status", said a woman living with AIDs. "But people who are free of the virus should stick to one partner or practice safe sex."(END/IPS/ro/mn/98)
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