The Nigerian AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (2018) Tuesday stated that results so far shows that Nigeria was lagging behind in the move to achieve the 1st of the 95-95-95 target by 2030.
The executive secretary of Civil Society for HIV/AIDs in Nigeria, Mr. Walter Ndukwe Ugwuocha, said getting 10million Nigerians to know their HIV status through HIV self testing is a target that can be achieved.
He stated this Tuesday in Abuja, during a media round table for the commencement of the national campaign for HIV self testing in Nigeria with the theme ” Accelerating HIV Self Testing in Nigeria: The Role of Professional Association.”
Ugwuocha said the lockdown arising from COVID-19 had significantly decreased access of community members and vulnerable population to HIV testing.
He stated further that members should support the national government to reach the first 95 of the global target.
He said: “Prior to the lockdown, there had been challenges on how to address the gap with population access to HIV testing and identifying the unreached HIV positive population.
“The strategy is focused on creating awareness and demand for HIV self-testing in Nigeria and this requires re-strategising in ways that communities and community members can take the leadership to drive HIV testing,” he added.
CISHAN stated that the support of the media will facilitate access to HIV self-testing kits in both rural and hard to reach areas.
He noted the need to evolve community driven HIV testing strategies and further re-affirmed by the anecdotal field reports by CISHAN during the lockdown.
