Unmarried men and women are responsible for spike in HIV infections - National Agency for the Control of AIDS says

The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has said that a recent study carried out by the agency has shown that unmarried men and women make up the highest number of persons infected with HIV infections in the country.b(Read More Here).

Disclosing this to newsmen at a media parley on Monday, August 9, the Director-General of NACA, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, said the study has also shown that women who have never been married contributed more to the HIV infections than men in the country.

Aliyu said while never-married individuals contributed to 64 percent of new HIV infections in the country, new infections among female sex workers (FSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM) make up 91 percent of all new infections among adults. 

“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.

To reduce child infections due to mother-to-child transmission, we must go beyond the hospital and go to the communities to deliver services. We are working at hospitals and community level. They now have more access. Expectant mothers who don’t go for antenatal service are now reached at the comfort of their homes,” he said.