Out of Nigeria’s 1.7 million Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), 1.46 million of them have access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) as of 2020. Antiretroviral drugs reach 86.04% of the PLWHA population in the country.
There is a steady increase in the number of PLWHA covered by ART from 2010 – 2020, from 0.34 million in 2010 to 1.46 million in 2020. By the year 2020, the total number of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) had dropped from 1.8 million in 2019 to 1.7 million in 2020.
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Antiretroviral drugs are used to treat HIV. They work by preventing the virus from multiplying in the body. This permits the body’s immune system to repair and protect itself from additional harm. Antiretroviral therapy affects the human body in two ways. It increases the levels of immune cells in the body whilst it decreases the quantity of viral cells.
The importance of ART for people infected with HIV cannot be overstated; however the first step in the process is to know your HIV status and start treatment immediately if you test positive for the virus. While ART does not cure HIV, Research has shown that starting ART early can lengthen the life of a person infected with HIV and drastically reduce their ability to transmit the virus by making the virus undetectable with blood tests.