The Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr. Gambo Aliyu, has called on all Nigerians, especially young people, to take advantage of the spirit of love and togetherness that the Valentine day signifies, to know their HIV status.

Speaking in Abuja, Dr. Gambo Aliyu emphasized that the importance of all Nigerians knowing their HIV status which he said marks the entry point to the prevention, treatment, and care of HIV/AIDS.

He said that it was expedient for all Nigerians, especially the youths to express love within the context of caring deeply for their loved ones with the intention of protecting them from all forms of harm and avoiding risk factors that will make them vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Infections.

In 2021, 1.9 million people in Nigeria were living with HIV, and women were the most affected group according to UN statistics.

According to the National AIDS and STDs Control Programme, 90 percent of Nigerians who are HIV positive know their status, 98 percent of those who know their status are on HIV treatment and 95 percent of those on treatment have attained viral suppression.

As of the end of September 2022, over 1.6 million persons living with HIV in Nigeria were on treatment, compared to 838,020 persons in 2017. The number of HIV treatment sites has increased from 251 in 2007 to 2,262 in 2020.