The Bauchi State Government has announced that HIV/AIDS prevalence in the state has significantly dropped from 6.8 per cent recorded in 2001 to 0.4 per cent in 2019.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Aliyu Maigoro, made the disclosure in Bauchi on Tuesday, December 8, at an event to mark World AIDS Day, annually celebrated on Dec. 1 to raise awareness on the disease.

Maigoro said 25,809 people were presently living with HIV across the 20 local government areas of the state and that 20,961 of the infected people were receiving treatment at designated health facilities in the state.

Maigoro also revealed that 94 per cent of those receiving treatment had achieved viral load suppression.

He pledged the state government’s readiness to sustain the effort on Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) for effective and wider coverage for an HIV-free generation in the near future in the state.

Maigoro attributed the drastic reduction in the HIV/AIDS prevalence in the state to government’s will and support from stakeholders.