THE Benue State government, Nigeria has disclosed at the training of media professionals on HIV/AIDS held at Markurdi, Benue State, that over one million out of the 4.5 million population in the state have been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Based on the statistics, about two out of five people in the state are carriers of the disease, with women having it more than men.
According to the Executive Secretary, Benue State Action on Control of AIDS (BESACA Mrs. Grace Wende, the children carriers of the disease, who have the highest infection rate, were born with the disease.
These children, according to her, got the disease from mothers who failed to go for ante-natal care at government-owned hospitals where their status could have been detected earlier.
“In Benue State, the number of adults infected with HIV/AIDS was 708,640, out of which 21,259 were new infections in 2011. In the same year, 17,139 women were found positive. The number of children requiring ARV was 398,888,” she said.
Mrs Wende cited the attitude of the people of the state to unprotected sex and the rising number of youths becoming homosexuals as factors responsible for the rise in the scourge.
Speaking further, Mrs. Wende noted that many men who flock around ladies and engage in unprotected sex also transmit the virus to their unsuspecting wives.
At the moment, according to her, the state has 40 treatment centres where the free antiretroviral drugs are provided to those living with the virus, adding that the state has enough drugs in stock till 2015.
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