‘Every week, 4,000 young women get HIV’

By Peter Duru

Makurdi— The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, AHF, Nigeria has raised the alarm implicit the rising complaint of caller HIV infections among young women, revealing that astir 4,000 women aged 15–24 go recently infected with HIV each week, with implicit 3,300 of those cases occurring successful sub-Saharan Africa.

In a connection up of the 2025 International Day of the Girl, IDG, AHF Nigeria’s Advocacy and Marketing Manager, Steve Aborisade, urged governments to put much successful HIV and STI prevention, testing, and treatment, alongside policies that amended entree to healthcare, education, and reproductive wellness services.

Aborisade said: “To people the International Day of the Girl, AHF Nigeria volition big an empowerment lawsuit astatine Community Commercial Secondary School, Ikot Oku Ubo, Uyo, connected October 10.

“The lawsuit volition beforehand menstrual health, leadership, and acquisition portion honouring outstanding ideas from girls and distributing escaped sanitary pads.”

He said civilian nine partners specified arsenic CISHAN, CCCRN, and ECEWS volition articulation the event, alongside officials from the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Women Affairs.

AHF Nigeria Country Programme Director, Dr. Echey Ijezie, lamented the challenges facing young girls, including mediocre menstrual health, gender-based violence, and deficiency of entree to intersexual and reproductive wellness services.

“At AHF Nigeria, we are profoundly acrophobic astir the barriers confronting young girls. Every week, thousands go infected with HIV due to the fact that of inequality, mediocre education, and constricted entree to wellness services.”

He disclosed that successful 2023, 1.9 cardinal teen girls and young women were surviving with HIV globally, compared to 1.2 cardinal boys and young men.

The International Day of the Girl, marked annually connected October 11, helium noted, provides an accidental to observe girls’ achievements and advocator for policies that safeguard their futures.

The station ‘Every week, 4,000 young women get HIV’ appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.