Abuja, Nigeria - 30 October 2014, UNODC partnered with NACA and UNAIDS to conduct a one day constituency building workshop in Abuja on the 30th of October 2014. The primary objective of this meeting was to increase the capacity of PWID and create a networking platform for PWID engagement and to create a coordinated response among PWID in Nigeria. More than 11,000 persons split across 23 states inject drugs in Nigeria according to current official estimates. Nigeria has a generalized HIV epidemic, with People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) contributing to about 9% of the annual new HIV infections in the country. |
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More than 11,000 persons split across 23 states inject drugs in Nigeria according to current official estimates. Nigeria has a generalized HIV epidemic, with People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) contributing to about 9% of the annual new HIV infections in the country.
Whilst available data is limited, health vulnerabilities are very high. The Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey (IBBSS) conducted in 2010 reported an HIV prevalence of 4.2% among People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in Nigeria. The same study reports HIV prevalence among female Injecting Drug Users of 21%, seven times higher than for males (3.1%).
It is essential to link PWIDs to the comprehensive package of HIV prevention services in Nigeria. In the last three years, the HIV response among female sex workers and Men who have sex with men have received considerable attention as members of Most At Risk Populations. These groups now have a growing and structured constituency that is able to contribute to the development of national programs.
However, this is not yet the case with the community of Injecting Drugs Users who are not very visible despite their growing number and sizeable contribution to new infections in Nigeria. It is therefore believed that the lack of a solid constituency of People Who Inject Drugs has been a major barrier to the development, delivery and resourcing of HIV services for this target group in Nigeria. People Who Inject Drugs hardly have a voice in major decision making that affect them. There is need for them to be involved in the development of interventions, and the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of these interventions. The active involvement of People Who Inject Drugs in HIV programming in Nigeria is therefore key in stemming the rising tide of new infections among PWIDs. |
Injecting drug users representatives selected from Delta, Gombe, Katsina, Kano, Nasarawa, Niger, Lagos, and Rivers state participated in the workshop. This workshop will be followed up by 8 state level meetings with the support of state AIDS control societies to discuss constituency building efforts.