Minister of State for Information and Communications, Aliyu Bilbis, has said that Nigeria currently occupies number two position among the nations in the world whose citizens are infected with HIV/AIDS.
Bilbis stated this on Friday at the 2009 World Post Day Celebration and the flag-off of the National Postal Campaign against HIV/AIDS held in Abuja.
The minister said aside South Africa that occupies the first position, Nigeria currently has 2.6 million persons living with the pandemic disease.
He further stated that globally, there are 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS, out of this number, 67 per cent live in Africa, while 700,000 of the 33 million live in Europe.
According to him, "despite concerted efforts made by governments and corporate bodies to curb the menace of HIV/AIDS, its statistics remain staggering and frightening.
"The HIV prevalence in Nigeria is discouraging. Whereas China with a population of 1.3 billion has 700,000 people living with HIV, Nigeria has 2.6 million persons living with HIV out of her population of 140 million people.
"Brazil's 192 million population has 730,000 people living with HIV, while Cameroon with a population of 18.5 million has 540,000 infected with the disease.
"Globally, Nigeria is second only to Republic of South Africa regarding the numbers of persons living with HIV/AIDS," he said.
However, he expressed optimism that with the involvement of Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) vast network and workforce, there would be significant improvement in the fight against the scourge.


http://www.independentngonline.com/news/head/article05

Perception of media campaign on HIV/AIDS communication

An estimated 22.5 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2007 an approximately 1.7 million-additional people were infected with HIV during that year. In just the past year, the AIDS epidemic in Africa has claimed the lives of an estimated 1.6 million people in this region.

http://www.scharticles.com/perception-of-media-campaign-on-hiv-aids-communication/