700,000 Nigerian youths have HIV/AIDS – UN AIDS

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS has said about 700,000 young are living with HIV/AIDS.
The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Mr. Michel Sidibe, said this in Abuja on Wednesday.

Sidibe warned that Nigeria risked the danger of new HIV infections if its youths were not properly educated about the effects of the virus.

He said, “If we don’t engage young people as actors of change, we will not stop new infections. An estimated 700,000 young people aged 15 to 32 are living with HIV—a number nearly one-fifth of the total population of HIV-positive people in Nigeria, according to data from the
UN body.
“It is also estimated that only 24 percent of young people have accurate knowledge that could help them adopt behaviours to reduce the risk of HIV transmission.”

The UNAIDS boss also called on the Federal Government to speed up the passage of the bill prohibiting stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.

Sidibe, who spoke during the event in Gwagwalada area of the Federal Capital Territory, also advocated the quick passage of the HIV/AIDS anti-stigmatisation and discrimination bill.
He said, “People are suffering more from stigma, discrimination and exclusion than even from the disease.”
via Punch