The Plateau State Commissioner for Health, Nicholas Baamlong, has put the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the state at 1.6 per cent.

Mr Baamlong disclosed this on Friday in Jos, during a media briefing on the activities and achievements of his office from May 2023 to date.
The commissioner said the state had made significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but regretted that the burden of the disease is still high.“The state’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 1.6 per cent is still slightly above the national prevalence rate of 1.4 per cent,” he said.

The commissioner further said that the state as at December 2024, recorded 2,520 new HIV infection cases while 46,126 persons living with HIVs were on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).
Mr Baamlong noted that the state government, in a bid to reduce the prevalence of the disease, provided funding for the expansion of access of in-and out-of-school youths to family life health education.

According to him, funding was also provided for the conduct of community HIV sensitisation and HIV testing services across selected communities to strengthen community systems and to support testing and re-testing of the general and key populations, vulnerable populations and pregnant women.

He added that the government had also provided funding for the mapping of all Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) implementing HIV services in the State by Civil Society for HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (CISHAN) to strengthen community structures for the provision of equitable HIV prevention interventions.
Mr Baamlong said that the renovation of the Plateau AIDS Control Agency (PLACA) office complex is ongoing to give the agency a facelift and to improve the quality of the work environment and donor confidence.

(NAN)