Sina-Maniacs! Unmarried People Responsible For HIV Spike – NACA

A latest study carried out by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has said unmarried men and women are responsible for the spike in HIV infections in the country.

The study further posits that women who have never been married contribute the largest number of new HIV infections in the country, while babies account for 22% of the infections.The Director General of the agency, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, revealed these at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday 9th August, explaining that the study has given the country a new direction on innovative ways to focus its attention and utilise resources to make sure that HIV transmission is curtailed in a year or two.

Lamenting that lack of interest among the younger population to engage and connect with existing measures of HIV prevention, Gambo added that the study revealed that men and women who are never married contributed to 64 per cent of new HIV infections but together with new infections among female sex workers and men who have sex with men MSM, they make up 91 per cent of all new infections among adults.Furthermore, the study showed that child infections due to mother-to-child transmission represent the second largest source of new infections, accounting for 22 per cent of all new infections. Also, key populations, which represent less than 2 per cent of the total population, accounted for about 11 per cent of new infections.

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“The younger generation who are never married are not using prevention. They don’t listen or want to have anything to do with HIV services. If we can reach them and connect them, we can come closer to reducing the pandemic. The younger people living with the virus need to be reached with services to curtail transmission among them and newborn”, Gambo said.TRENDING VIDEO: Top 13 Black Sports Women At The 2020 Olympics Photos Credit: Getty