About 72,000 adolescents are living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Lagos State, Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), Oluseyi Temowo, has said.
Mr. Temowo made the disclosure on Thursday while speaking in Lagos at a forum on adolescents living with HIV.
An NGO, Positive Action for Treatment (PATA), organised the forum in partnership with the AIDS agency to mark 2016 World AIDS Day.
Temowo urged the people to know their status early, adding that drugs for HIV could be obtained free in any government hospital in the state.
He advised parents, guardians, healthcare givers and the media to support the government in its effort to stamp out the condition by engaging in massive sensitisation of the public.
Also speaking, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Primary Healthcare, Olufemi Onanuga, said the state government would sanction any school or organisation guilty of discriminating against HIV carriers.
He also warned members of the public, employers and school owners against stigmatisation of people living with HIV/AIDS.
According to him, the state government will commence enforcement of legislation prohibiting stigmatisation and discrimination of people living with HIV in the state.
The governor’s aide condemned a school for rusticating an adolescent girl on account of living with HIV.
Wife of the governor, Bolanle Ambode, appealed to policy makers across the country for intervention programmes targeted at adolescents living with HIV and AIDS because of their strategic age bracket.
Ambode, special guest of honour at the occasion, urged LSACA and all relevant government agencies to continue sensitising the public on the danger of discriminating against people living with HIV and AIDS.
Francis Umoh, programme manager, PATA said that the forum was conveyed to sensitise policy makers and key stakeholders on sexual and reproductive health of adolescents living with HIV.
Mr. Umoh said the step became necessary to promote support for PATA’s intervention programmes aimed at improving the quality of life of adolescents living with HIV in the area.
