‘Nigeria needs $250m annually to fight HIV/AIDS’

Dr Okey Nwanyanwu, Nigeria Country Director, United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Friday that the Federal Government should put in about $250 million annually to combat HIV.
Nwanyanwu said this at an interactive session with the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) chapter  of  Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN) and Mentor-mothers.
The session was organised in commemoration of the 2012 World AIDS Day.
The day, which is  annually  marked  on December 1, has  as its theme this year,“Getting to Zero: Zero New Infections.”
Nwanyanwu noted that for every one person put on treatment in the country, there were five new infections. He  therefore charged the  government on the need to carry out its responsibility towards the citizens.
“Right now, the US government is putting in close to half a billion dollars every year  and that is what we expect the Nigerian government to start putting in by 2015. I don’t know how much they are putting in right now.
“But  at some point, we need to know how much it is that government is putting into the HIV programme,” he said.
While expressing concern over the increased cases of new infection, he said Nigeria was at the same level with the Democratic Republic of Congo, which ought not to be.
Nwanyanwu urged  the   Federal Government to increase its  financial commitment towards the eradication of HIV and AIDS.