US CDC, 18 Nigerian Health Commissioners, FCT tackle HIV epidemic

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The United Nations Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) met with health commissioners from the 18 CDC-supported states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to share HIV programme progress and plan for the future in order to achieve HIV epidemic control.

During the first consultative meeting of its kind, state, agency, and implementing partner leaders discussed ways to sustain and build on the HIV program’s recent successes in achieving epidemic control.

Declaring the event open, US CDC Country Director, Dr. Mary Boyd, who commended the commissioners for their initiative during the Antiretroviral Therapy Surge effort in their states, noted that the programme exceeded expectations.

Boyd emphasised the need for strong state leadership of HIV programs going forward and expressed US CDC’s commitment to listen to, understand, and join states in their journey to epidemic control.

Almost 2 million people in Nigeria are currently receiving HIV treatment through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The US CDC supports about 1.2 million of these people in Abia, Delta, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Nasarawa, Rivers, Gombe, and FTC.