EXCITING NEWS: TNG WhatsApp Channel is LIVE…
Subscribe for FREE to get LIVE NEWS UPDATE. Click here to subscribe!
One out of every five Nigerian youth has never tested for HIV, Dr Juliet EIwelunmor, a medical researcher at Saint Louis University, USA, said on Friday, in Lagos.
Iwelunmor told newsmen at a news conference in Lagos, to commence the I-Test Project in commemoration of the World AIDs Day marked every Dec.1.
She said that an estimated 32 per cent of the general population living with HIV in Nigeria, were unaware of their status and the youth formed majority of the group.
Iwelunmor, who is also a principal investigator in the I-Test Project, said that many youth refused to test for their HIV status due to fear, stigma, discrimination and lack of confidentiality.
She said that the Nigerian Government established a self testing programme in 2016, to enable people test themselves in the confines of their home to avoid the fear of going to a health facility for the test.
According to her, many youth are yet to key into the self testing programme.
“According to recent data by the Nigerian Nationals HIV/AIDs Strategic Framework, many Nigerian youth are still not aware of their HIV status, which is not good for the future of the country.
“In order to address this problem, the I-Test Project with the theme ‘World AIDs Day HIV Self-Testing Contest’, was launched to allow the youth themselves come up with unique ideas that will promote self-testing among them.
“The I-Test Project is being sponsored by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in partnership with New York University, Saint Louis University, Lagos State AIDs Control Agency (LASACA) and ID Africa.
“The project allowed creative and talented youth to pitch innovative ideas to promote HIV self-testing and voice their health concerns,” she said.
Iwelunmor said the 20 finalists had been selected out of the 903 entries from the youth, to pitch and suggest ways to promote HIV Self-Testing among young people in Nigeria at the World AIDs Day programme on Saturday.
Also speaking, Dr Oliver Ezechi, Medical Researcher at NIMR, said that in spite of interventions, about 3.2 million Nigerians were still living with HIV.
“We hope that this project will help tackle issues such as HIV testing as it is an opportunity to partner with the youth and make them leaders and ambassadors in the fight against HIV/AIDs in the country,” he said.
In her remarks, Dr Sule Omolola, Advocacy Lead, LASACA, said the project would drive the country to achieving the UNAIDS ‘90-90-90 targets’ of 2020.
“In 2014, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) and partners set the ‘90-90-90 targets aiming to diagnose 90 per cent of all HIV positive people, provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 90 per cent of those diagnosed and achieve viral suppression for 90 per cent of those treated, by 2020.
“Nigeria has the second largest HIV epidemic in the world and we hope to intensify all efforts towards achieving this target,” she said.