Dr Dominic Ukpong, Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Health, had dismissed insinuations that promiscuity could be responsible for the high prevalence rate of HIV\/AIDS in the state.<\/p>\n
Ukpong said this at the Post National HIV\/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) discussion and stakeholders\u2019 engagement meeting in Uyo on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian HIV\/AIDs Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) revealed that Akwa Ibom had the highest prevalence rate of HIV in the country.<\/p>\n
According to the survey, 5.5 per cent of people living with HIV in Nigeria are in Akwa Ibom, followed by Benue which has about 3.5 per cent prevalence rate.<\/p>\n
Ukpong expressed worry that the high prevalence rate was being interpreted by many as a sign of promiscuity among the people of Akwa Ibom.<\/p>\n
According to him, Akwa Ibom people are very religious and hold firmly to the tenets of chastity and fidelity.<\/p>\n
He, however, noted that HIV\/AIDS education was low and that the people were engaging in behaviour which exposed them to the virus, with particular reference to the activities of the Traditional Birth Attendants.<\/p>\n
Ukpong said that the virus could be transmitted through other channels besides sex.<\/p>\n
The health commissioner appealed to well-meaning individuals to get tested and to disclose their status to their partners.<\/p>\n
Speaking earlier, Dr Sanmi Adedokun, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, said that the prevalence rate was higher along the coastal boarders which had a lot of immigration activities.<\/p>\n
He said that the Akwa Ibom people, though having the highest rate in the last survey, had recorded a commendable drop in HIV\/AIDS prevalence from 10.8 in 2014 to 5.5 in 2017.<\/p>\n
Adedokun said that there should be a conscious inclusion of schools in HIV\/AIDS sensitisation and education.<\/p>\n
He explained that the survey also revealed that 79.3 per cent of adolescence had HIV\/AIDS information from their teachers.<\/p>\n
Dr Chris Obanubi gave the assurance that the prevalence rate in Akwa Ibom could be crashed.<\/p>\n
He said that USAID was set to do more sensitisation to attend this goal.<\/p>\n
He also called for community involvement and media inclusion to change the negative attitude of people toward fight against the virus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr Dominic Ukpong, Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Health, had dismissed insinuations that promiscuity could be responsible for the high prevalence rate of HIV\/AIDS in the state. Ukpong said this at the Post National HIV\/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) discussion and stakeholders\u2019 engagement meeting in Uyo on Sunday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":7984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[371,325,473,338],"class_list":["post-7977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-akwa-ibom","tag-education","tag-hiv","tag-meeting"],"yoast_head":"\n