The Kano State government has said that of the 138,430 persons tested for HIV, 4,728 have been positive from January 2023 to date.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran, disclosed this while delivering a speech at the commemoration of this year’s World AIDS Day on Friday.
He said the figure puts the total number of persons living with the disease and receiving treatment in the state at 46,732.
Labaran explained that the state has improved its strategies to halt mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS by successfully conducting tests for 95 per cent of all pregnant women during their first ANC visits to the hospital, out of which only 0.04 per cent weren’t found to be positive.
“We have tested a total of 138,430 people for HIV and found 4,728 positive and have successfully initiated new 4,140 HIV-infected persons on ART from January 2023 to date.
“Currently, the state has 46,732 people living with HIV receiving treatment.
“We have improved our strategies to halt mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS by successfully conducting HIV testing for 95 per cent of all pregnant women during their first ANC visit, out of which only 0.04 per cent turned HIV positive,” he said.
Labaran further explained efforts by the state government in managing the situation when he said, for the first time, the state has achieved an HIV budget target of 3 per cent, that is, N2bn of the total health budget in the proposed budget submitted to the Kano State House of Assembly.
The event, with the theme “Let Communities Lead,” was organised in collaboration with USAID as well as other partners.
The commissioner appreciated the support of partners like USAID, LHSS, NEPWHAN, and KanSLAM for their advocacy engagements.
In his remarks, the Director General of the State Agency for Control of AIDS, Dr Usman Bashir, said the agency has brought on board 600 persons living with AIDS to benefit from the free healthcare service package introduced by the state government.
“Most of the beneficiaries are children of those who died of HIV, as well as those children living with the disease,” he added.
