The Federal Capital Territory has placed 61,384 people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment.

Adedolapo Fasawe, mandate secretary of the Health Services and Environment Secretariat at the FCT Administration, stated this in Abuja on Monday at a press conference to commemorate the 2024 World AIDS Day.

Ms Fasawe said the figure represented 223 per cent of the projected number of PLHIV. Ms Fasawe said the number included those migrating from neighbouring states.

She added that of the 61,384 people placed on treatment, 1,048 were children, representing 3.8 per cent and receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy.

She said Abuja, with an estimated population of 6.95 million, had an HIV prevalence rate of 1.4 per cent, a little over the national figure of 1.3 per cent.

She said the FCTA was surrounding and strengthening HIV Services in the FCT.

“Our health sector response has been strengthened by a comprehensive network of 122 service delivery points, offering antiretrovirals across the six Area Councils in the FCT.

“Also, there are 285 other conventional spoke sites and 37 unconventional sites, which provide decentralised community-based care to ensure services reach even the most remote populations.

“The FCT’s decentralised model ensures that no one is left behind, enabling communities to access quality care and support close to home,” she said.

The mandate secretary further said that to address pediatric HIV, the government deployed unique interventions, such as mentor mothers who serve as linkage escorts for pregnant women, guiding them through care pathways.

She added that FCT also trained unconventional caregivers, such as traditional birth attendants, on the importance of facility births, prevention, and early infant diagnosis with samples taken within 72 hours of life.

According to her, community initiatives like the Mothers’ Love Party and the AP3 Initiative also enhance support for the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV programmes.

She added, “We also expanded access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, ensuring that individuals without HIV remain free of the disease.”

Ms Fasawe attributed the successes being recorded to strong partnership and collaborations.

She identified the partners as the National AIDS and STI Control Programme and the National Agency for the Control of Aids.

She said others were implementing partners such as the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Mothers2Mothers, the Association for Reproductive and Family Health, and YouthRISE.

“From scaling up PMTCT services to expanding pediatric care and decentralising service delivery, these efforts continue to drive the FCT’s progress in meeting and exceeding national targets,” she explained.

The mandate secretary, who commended the support of the partners, reaffirmed FCTA’s commitment to ending stigma and discrimination, which remained significant barriers to care.

She also said that the FCTA would intensify efforts to reach the unreached, protect vulnerable populations, and ensure that every child, woman, and man living with HIV had access to quality care and support.

(NAN)