NGO worries over inadequate services for HIV/AIDS affected youths

Dr Nadia Sam Agudu, the technical advisor, Pediatric HIV of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria made this known during a seminar organised by the Population Council to discuss steps in addressing issues surrounding access for HIV positive youths.She said with Nigeria’s teeming youths making up 40 million of the country’s population and deaths among […]

Dr Nadia Sam Agudu, the technical advisor, Pediatric HIV of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria made this known during a seminar organised by the Population Council to discuss steps in addressing issues surrounding access for HIV positive youths.
She said with Nigeria’s teeming youths making up 40 million of the country’s population and deaths among HIV positive youths increasing by 50% from 2005 – 2012, the country needs to rethink its response strategies to accommodate the needs of youths.
Dr Agudu added that access to testing for HIV and subsequent services should be made easily available for youths if the country is serious about curbing new infections in HIV/AIDS.
“Nigeria needs concrete legislation to motivate and support adolescents and health care providers in seeking and providing opportunities for HIV testing towards healthier adolescents’ living and decreased AIDS related mortality,” Agudu also said.
In another development, the acting country director of the Population Council, Sylvia Adebajo, has said challenges still exist in providing services for persons affected by the HIV/AIDS virus who fall into the category of ‘population left behind’.
Making a presentation on “Providing Comprehensive HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care Services for Population Left Behind’, Adebajo said that these groups of persons include, Men who sleep with Men (MSM), Injectable Drug Users (IDU) and Clients of Female Sex Workers.
She revealed that with the passage of the anti-gay laws most of these persons have gone underground making it difficult to reach them with services.
Her words: “During the course of our work we observed that MSM social networks and HIV/AIDS are not static but dynamic, with these groups overlapping into each other.
“Stigma and discrimination affect ability of these persons to access health services and make informed decisions about their health,” she also said.