Estimated 1.3 million People Infected with HIV in 2023

By: Michael Mike

An estimated 1.3 million people became infected with HIV in 2023, three times more than the target of fewer than 370,000 by 2025. While there has been marked progress in sub-Saharan Africa, for the first time, in 2023 more than half of the new HIV infections occurred outside of sub-Saharan Africa, a report released on Wednesday said.

The report by the Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GBC), said the rising new HIV infections are evident in several countries, particularly in countries where key populations including men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people and people who use drugs, are most affected, and investment in prevention was lower, noting that key populations and their sexual partners now represent the majority (55%) of new HIV infections globally, up from 44% in 2010.

The Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GBC), established in 2017, is addressing the HIV prevention crisis. Focusing on 40 countries the GPC, a coalition of United Nations Member States and partners including UNAIDS, donors, civil society and private sector organizations, is working to strengthen and sustain political commitment for HIV prevention.

GPC Co-chair and Former Minister of Health, Botswana. Prof. Sheila Tlou, said: “The HIV epidemic has evolved – now more than ever, we need resilient capacity to deliver and manage integrated, differentiated and equitable HIV prevention interventions,”

There has been great variation in progress among GPC member countries; the biggest declines occurred in countries within eastern and southern Africa including Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe, where new HIV infections were reduced by more than 66% and which are on track to achieve the global target of 90% reduction by 2030 – and, to a lesser extent, in western and central Africa. Expansion of access to effective HIV treatment, combined with an ongoing focus on primary prevention, are driving those achievements.

UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director for Programmes, Angeli Achrekar said: “The moment of opportunity for HIV prevention is now,” adding that: “Today, we have a wider range of prevention options including new long-acting antiretroviral prevention—with the new results about lenacapavir—a twice yearly injection to prevent HIV—providing a promising game-changing option—and new opportunities to communicate about HIV prevention and health.”

According to the report, Long-acting technologies like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) will play a major role in preventing new infections in the coming years. Access is increasing, but only in a few countries. Around 3.5 million people were accessing PrEP (antiretroviral medicine which prevents HIV) in 2023 up from just 200 000 in 2017, but this remains far short of the 10 million target set for 2025.

New HIV prevention products in the pipeline such as long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) and most recently, lenacapavir, are raising expectations due to their combination of convenience and high efficacy. However, the key is accessibility and affordability. The cost of the new long-acting injectable PrEP options, and the speed with which they are made available to potential users in the countries with the most need will be critical in expanding access to these life-saving technologies.
Persistent gaps remain in HIV prevention coverage (only 61% of areas with high incidence of HIV have programmes for young women, less than half of sex workers, and only about a third of gay men and other men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs regularly access prevention in GPC focus countries).

Condoms remain the most effective low-cost HIV prevention tool, however global condom procurement or distribution in low- and middle-income countries declined by an average of 27% between 2010 and 2022 and procurement by major donors fell by an average 32% in that period. Socially marketed distribution declined from a peak of about 3.5 billion condoms in 2011 to about 1.8 billion in 2022.

Condoms, PrEP, post exposure prophylaxis, antiretroviral therapy to ensure viral suppression thus preventing transmission of the virus, harm reduction and voluntary medical male circumcision are all HIV prevention options that should be real choices available for people at risk of HIV infection. Addressing structural and gender inequalities faced by these priority and key populations is essential in ensuring access to prevention services. The urgency to secure and sustain gains for HIV prevention cannot be overemphasized – programmes need to be community-led and country-led.

“No matter how good the science or community leadership, HIV will not end unless we have significant policy change to reverse criminalization and lessen stigmatization of affected populations. If we can’t protect human rights, then we can’t end HIV. This is never just about the virus—it’s about people, and the people must lead,” said GPC co-chair and Executive Director, AVAC, Mitchell Warren,

The report said an enormous unmet need for resources for HIV prevention and societal enabler programmes in almost all regions persists. An estimated US$ 2.4 billion was available for primary prevention programmes in low- and middle-income countries in 2023 compared to the estimated need of USD 9.5 billion in 2025. Investing in HIV prevention now is essential to scale up programmes, noting that if 1.3 million people continue to acquire HIV every year, the response will become more challenging, more complex and more costly in 2030 and 2050. Increased investments in HIV prevention, strengthened political leadership, enabling legal and policy environments are urgently needed to effectively implement programmes, insisting that the time to act is now.

Estimated 1.3 million People Infected with HIV in 2023

VP Shettima In Maiduguri, Consoles Victims Of Gwoza Suicide Bombings

*** Says President Tinubu’s heart is with them, makes personal donations to affected persons

By: Our Reporter

In a swift response to the suicide bombings in Gwoza area of Borno State on Saturday, Vice President Kashim Shettima on Monday paid a condolence visit to the victims and families of those who lost their lives in the gory attacks.

He described the incident as pathetic, even as he quoted the late Dele Giwa saying, “One life lost in cold blood is as gruesome as millions lost in cold blood.”

Speaking with journalists immediately after meeting and commiserating with victims of the attack at the State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, Senator Shettima conveyed the condolences of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Borno State government and the people of Gwoza.

The Vice President who made a personal donation to all the victims of the attacks and condoled with the families of those killed by the multiple explosions, saying the heart of the President is with them.

“The heart of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is with the victims and he specifically instructed us to come and offer our condolences and commiserations to the victims of this incident.

“We are here with the Director General of @nemanigeria, with the Minister of Agriculture, with the Minister of Transportation and, of course, the Chief Whip of the Senate, a son of the soil from Gwoza, who was here since yesterday (Sunday), and the Acting Governor. They have been working round the clock to provide succor and support to the victims,” VP Shettima stated.

Pegging the death toll at 32, the VP noted that while 42 persons injured in the suicide bomb attacks were brought to the Specialist Hospital, 14 have been discharged after receiving treatment, with 26 still receiving treatment.

He said, “It was a very pathetic scene. Our hearts go out to the victims. So far, we have recorded 32 deaths; 42 of those injured were brought in from Gwoza and about 14 have been discharged, while about 26 are currently receiving attention.”

“I want to use this forum to most sincerely register our profound gratitude to the Borno State government, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and @ICRC_Nigeria for rising to the challenges of the times and giving their best in terms of support.”

While in Maiduguri, the Vice President also attended the funeral prayer for the late mother of former Borno Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, Hajiya Aisa, at the family residence of Late Galadima Modu Sheriff along Damboa Road.

The mother to the former Governor died in Abuja on Sunday at the age of 93 after a protracted illness.

In the VP’s entourage were the Deputy Governor of Borno State, Umar Usman Kadafur; Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari; Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali; former Nigerian Ambassador to China, Baba Ahmed Jidda; the Director General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, and other top government officials.

VP Shettima In Maiduguri, Consoles Victims Of Gwoza Suicide Bombings

MOP is another stride in the UMTH (1).

By: Lazarus Balami

The beauty of effective leadership is the continuing development and evolution of leadership ideas. So, these were noticeable around the stride being brought to play by the Ahidjo-led management team at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, UMTH. The latest of which is the Medical Oxygen Plant (MOP), adding to the narratives and initiatives of the CMD and his management team.

When NEWSng heard of the Medical Oxygen Plant project initiated by CMD Prof. Ahmed Ahidjo to improve healthcare delivery services in line with international standards of health and hospital management to provide more room for more medical research and teaching in the hospital, in its character for reporting achievements, our team flew in to see things as they were on the ground. And on good authority, we can say that this singular project has distinguished UMTH from other teaching hospitals in the country.

With what we have reported so far and the many ideas coming and dreams becoming reality, we can only say that it is time other hospitals began to take cues as soon as possible from UMTH. Standing in front of a giant liquid gas reserve tank with a capacity of 10,000 liters, we asked, Where do you find this? With the number of specialized medical centers of different types as a common sight In UMTH, in aiding healthcare services, therefore, the need for medical oxygen cannot be overemphasized in this tertiary hospital. 

In our reportage on UMTH, NEWSng has not heard of the Medical Oxygen Plant (MOP) in any hospital across the country. Perhaps most common to most people are the cooking gas plants where you refill your cylinders for domestic use. But an edible oxygen plant is entirely a different thing, far from the common cooking gas plants that we see at every corner of the streets around us.

Hospital medical oxygen plants are primarily built to cater to and provide for oxygen, a basic need in all hospitals and other medical facilities for the treatment of patients in critical conditions. Intentive Care Units (ICU), Child Care Centers, and Baby Incubators are the major consumers of medical oxygen gas. whether or not oxygen simply means gas. In this regard, we are concerned with filterized, refined, and cylinderized oxygen as medical gas oxygen.

At the plant site, our team could see a large liquid oxygen tank (LOT) reservoir. Speaking to our team, Engr. Babangida Mohammed Inuwa, the Head of Oxygen Production, informed us that this section of the Medical Oxygen Plant and its machine, tagged as Plant ‘C’, was constructed and provided by the Federal Ministry of Health in partnership with the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA), Abuja, while Air Separation (Nig) Limited Lagos provided the technical know-how of separation from raw liquid gas to medical oxygen gas. 

READ ALSO:https://newsng.ng/umth-how-professor-ahidjos-transformation-agenda-impacted-the-information-unit/

“What we had before now was an oxygen refill unit. But today we have a medical oxygen plant of high capacity, standard, and quality production with a reservoir tank of 10, 000 liters of liquid gas,” Engr.Babangida said.

He also said that the first machine is 19 years old but still working infectively and in good shape. ‘ It is all about plant preventive maintenance (PPM) culture. That is what we practice and apply here.” He added. “If this measure is not applied, any breakdown of the three machines will affect our production, and by and large, the hospital will suffer a shortfall of oxygen, and patients will not find it easy’. Also, other hospitals and their patients might be in a similar medical condition. This is because most hospitals in Maiduguri get their medical oxygen from us (UMTH)”. He said.

Speaking on the challenges faced by the medical oxygen plant, the Head of Production, Engr. Babangida Mohammed Inuwa said one major cog in the hospital and the plant is power. “You need power to energize you to do what you want to do. to achieve your goal. Power is energy, and energy is power. There is a major failure of power (electricity) in Maiduguri, and our hospital is at the receiving end. 

“However, our solar systems are bailing us out to some extent. But we need a national grid supply of power. Those in authority should come to our aid’. He said.

Indeed, this is absolutely a problem, as observed in Maiduguri generally. This protracted challenge of power, which has not only affected healthcare services in UMTH and Maiduguri but also business and social activities, calls for government and spirited individuals to come together to salvage the situation, particularly as it affects the health of the people in the state.

The UMTH is doing everything possible to ensure the best attention is given to power generation in the hospital; however, resources are being merged and could not give the needed output as expected. While this is so, it is expected that people should come to this understanding. Our findings revealed that some individuals within and outside the hospital are taking advantage of the electricity outage and/or power failure in the city of Maiduguri to accuse and label the hospital management for refusing to provide electricity to the wards and medical centers. This is absurd!

MOP is another stride in the UMTH (1).