Currently, this project runs in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nasarawa, Rivers and Katsina states. As of March 2023, 576,171 patients received ARV drugs and treatment under this project..
The 2019 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) pegged the country’s prevalence rate at 1.4%. However, this national percentage does not represent the prevalence in individual states. For instance, the state with the highest prevalence is Akwa Ibom State with 5.5% prevalence followed by Benue State with 5.3% prevalence and then Rivers State with 3.8% prevalence rate. It was estimated that about 79% of people living with HIV in Rivers State were not on treatment.
Therefore, as a leading implementing partner of the US PEPFAR funded HIV programs, through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN) was mandated in April 2019 to spearhead a response to address this situation in Rivers State. IHVN had previously responded to a critical HIV prevalence in Benue State when the prevalence was higher than 5.3%.
There are 23 Local Government Areas in Rivers state, and about 117 health facilities are currently supported to provide HIV services.