Fred Ezeh, Abuja
A top official involved in the Nigeria Aids Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) has confirmed that HIV/AIDS burden in Nigeria has dropped by 15 per cent.
The official who pleaded anonymity said the preliminary report of the nationwide survey confirmed the drop and also provided accurate and credible breakdown of state-by-state information on HIV/AIDS.
He also confirmed that the project was concluded in 22 weeks as against 24 weeks (July 17 to December 22, 2018), and 700 million dollars was spent out of 110 million dollars donated by US government.
The project was supposed to last for six months, but was said to have been concluded in five months by over 3,000 persons deployed in enumerated locations in states of Nigeria to undertake the task.
President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off the project last year in Abuja, and explained that it was meant to ascertain the true state of HIV/AIDS burden in Nigeria and how best to approach the interventions.
He was unhappy that there were no available records to justify previous spendings and interventions, hence the decision by foreign donor partners to withdrew their financial and logistics interventions due to absence of reliable statistical document as regards HIV/AIDS burden in Nigeria.
The president encouraged states government and all other stakeholders to support the survey so it could produce accurate or near accurate data of HIV/AIDS infection and treatment in Nigeria.
He charged people involved in the project to produce accurate and credible information on HIV/AIDS that would assist Nigeria and other intervention partners in the fight.