The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in a recent report averred that most deaths in the country were disease-related. From the diseases identified in the report, HIV/AIDS accounted for much of the deaths. But the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) insists Nigeria is winning the war against HIV/AIDS.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its recent report entitled ‘Statistical Report on Women and Men in Nigeria’, identified malaria, pneumonia, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, hepatitis B and measles and some others as among the killer diseases in the country.
From the diseases mentioned in the report, HIV/AIDS accounted for the highest proportion of infected females (63.5 percent) as against 36.5 percent reported for males in the referenced period (2010-2013).
It resulted in 59.3 percent of documented female deaths and 40.7 percent male deaths in Nigeria between 2010 and 2013.
Malaria, a second killer disease, according to the report, accounted for 53.4 percent female patients and 46.6 percent male patients within the same period.
In this country, an estimated 300,000 children die of malaria each year. This accounts for over 25 percent of infant mortality (children under the age of one), 30 percent of childhood mortality (children under five), and 11 percent of maternal mortality.
According to the National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2008, about 50 percent of the population has at least one episode of malaria annually, while children aged less than 5 years have 2 to 4 attacks annually.
Malaria is particularly severe among pregnant women and children under 5 years of age due to their relatively lower levels of immunity. Malaria in pregnancy compromises the health of the woman and that of the unborn child. It causes negative pregnancy outcomes like stillbirth, spontaneous abortion etc.
The national coordinator, National Malaria Elimination Programme, Dr Nnenna Ezeigwe, said before 2010, the prevalence of malaria in the country used to be more than 50 percent, in fact as high as maybe 75 percent, but from when the Roll Back Malaria initiative started and a lot of resources and commitment went into the fight, there has been a gradual reduction in prevalence.
By 2010, according to her, the prevalence has come way below 50 percent in most parts of the country, “so now you find out that in over 80 percent of the country, the prevalence is actually between 10 and 49 percent and you see that it is coming down. In some places you see that it is 20 percent, 25 and some even 15, so we are on the right track.”
On the other hand, HIV/AIDS, since it was recognized in the early 1980s, has been a critical health issue for women and men as the epidemic continues to undermine development efforts worldwide and mostly afflict populations already beset by extreme poverty.
HIV/AIDS has been particularly noted to affect the working population and preventing women and men from making meaningful contributions to development and improvement of families while at the household level, the epidemic increases the burden of care and erodes savings.
“The proportions of those infected with pneumonia, tuberculosis, diarrhoea with and without water, yellow fever and measles were equally significant accounting for over 45 percent cases in both sexes in the reference period,” the report stated.
From the report, the editorial emanating from it concluded that “the prevailing strategy” to win the war against the HIV/AIDS pandemic had not worked.
The MDG goal number 6 calls for the halting and beginning of the reversal of the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. About 59 percent of adults living with HIV are women.
At the national level, a total of 168,067 adults and children are living with HIV in 2013, which is a modest decrease from 322,529 in 2010.
The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), being the agency of the Federal Government with responsibility for the management and control of HIV/AIDS and the coordination of the activities of stakeholders involved in the fight against the pandemic, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, keeps record of AIDS deaths in the country.
The director-general of NACA, Prof. John Idoko, however, said the report only gave unfounded percentages of AIDS deaths without stating the total number of deaths upon which the percentages were based.
“The total number of deaths and the number of deaths due to AIDS which resulted in the percentages were not given. Even the “Summary Distribution of Deaths by Causes, Year and Sex (2010-2013)” – Table 2.2a at page 7 of the report did not capture HIV/AIDS among the diseases.”
The NACA DG insisted that if the factual AIDS deaths given were taken into cognizance, malaria which accounted for 108,453 deaths in 2012 and 46,612 deaths in 2013, according to the ‘Summary distribution of deaths by causes, year and sex’, by far accounted for more deaths than AIDS in Nigeria within the period.
Idoko, said HIV prevalence had declined from 5.8 percent in 2001 to 4.1 percent in 2010 and that new HIV infections declined by about 50 percent from 338,423 in 2005 to 176,701 in 2015. He maintained that HIV/AIDS had been in decline in Nigeria in the past five years, due to improved funding by the Federal Government and the sustained efforts of international partners.
According to him, this has made it possible for the number of people living with HIV who are on Anti Retroviral Therapy to sharply increase from 359,181 in 2010 to 747,382 in 2014.
“There are more remarkable improvements attributable to Nigeria’s HIV response. For instance, the number of HIV counselling and testing sites across the country from 1,046 in 2010 to 8,114 in 2014. The number of people tested for HIV has significantly increased from 1,380,418 in 2010 to 7,101,636 in 2014,” he further stated.
On Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), Idoko said the number of sites had increased from 675 in 2010 to 6283 in 2014 while the number of HIV positive pregnant women who received anti-retroviral prophylaxis to pregnant mother to child transmission has increased by over 87 percent from 33,891 in 2010 to 63,350 in 2014.
He said, “From these figures, it is clear that Nigeria has made significant progress in AIDS response. Effective antiretroviral treatment provides a dual effect of saving the lives of people living with HIV and sharply interrupting the transmission of HIV within the community.
“With improved domestic budgeting for HIV/AIDS and sustained external funding, there are plans to expand the coverage of antiretroviral treatment to 1.2 million adults and children by 2017 through the establishment of 2000 additional treatment sites.
“This and other prevention and control activities are important steps towards achieving an end to AIDS epidemic by the year 2030. “
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