By Mustapha Yauri
Abuja – The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) said the agency would intensify training of Primary Health Care (PHC) personnel on HIV/AIDS to end the scourge by 2030.
The Director General of the agency, Dr Sani Aliyu, made this known in Abuja on Monday during the commemoration of 2017 World Condom Day jointly organised by the agency and AIDS Health Care Foundation (AHF), an NGO.
He said the training was aimed at scaling up access to HIV/AIDS services in Nigeria and push toward ending AIDS as a public health challenge by 2030.
The DG said that the medical personnel would be trained on counseling, testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Aliyu said that the Federal Government had commenced rehabilitation of primary healthcare centres in the country, adding that the trained personnel would be deployed there to provide HIV/AIDS services across the country.
Commenting on the 2017 World Condom Day, Aliyu said that the agency in collaboration with partners would focus more on creating awareness that HIV/AIDS was very much with us.
“The main message is that if you are not sexually active, abstinence is the best way to stop acquiring HIV/AIDS.
“But if you are sexually active make sure you know your HIV/AIDS status and use a condom as much as possible to protect yourself.
“So, if you do not know your status, this event is an opportunity for you to have a HIV test for free,” he said.
He said the world condom day coincided with the Valentine’s Day which is the day to show love and compassion to others.
Aliyu said Valentine’s Day was also a day that potential youth could take risks that could affect the rest of their lives.
According to him, NACA is trying to get the message across that HIV is still around.
The director-general also advised the youth to protect themselves especially on Valentine’s Day as there could be a lot of activities that might result in transmission of the disease.
“If you don’t know your status, get tested and if you know your status make sure you are on treatment because it helps to stop transmission.
“Certainly, if you are sexually active try and use condom to prevent transmission,’’ he said
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Condom Day is observed on Feb. 13.