The Kogi State Agency for the Control of AIDS (KOSACA) has revealed that over 50,000 residents are living with HIV/AIDS in the state.

The Acting Executive Secretary of KOSACA, Ibrahim Anate, made this known at the commemoration of the 2024 World AIDS Day in Lokoja, organized by the Centre for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP) in collaboration with the Kogi State Agency for the Control of AIDS.

He stated that “36,066 are presently on treatment in Kogi State. We are seriously fighting the scourge, and we are raising awareness in all the communities and hard-to-reach areas of Kogi State about HIV.”

“The state government under Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo is striving hard to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are on treatment and that pregnant women who are HIV positive deliver babies that are negative.”

“The current administration is also striving hard to ensure that people who are positive in Kogi State will turn negative.

“The government is seriously working by providing support to the Ministry of Health and KOSACA to take the campaign to the very hard-to-reach communities and the community at large in Kogi State.”

Anate mentioned that some HIV patients find it difficult to access treatment due to the current security challenges in some parts of the state.

He appealed to Governor Ododo to revisit the Anti-Stigma HIV law, recently passed by the Kogi State House of Assembly.

“When the governor assents to this law, people who are HIV positive can have the confidence to come out and declare their status. Many can’t do this because of the stigmatization in society,” he added.

The Kogi State Technical Lead of the Centre for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP), Inyama Lawrencia, raised alarm about the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child in the state.
She said, “We have been advocating for every mother to go for antenatal services so that they can know their HIV status.

“With the record on hand about mother-to-child HIV transmission, CIHP has been working in the communities sensitizing women to ensure that they come out in masses to know their HIV status.”

“One of the challenges is that, due to the economic situation of the country, some women who are supposed to go out to know their status don’t go because of financial constraints,” she added.