NIGERIA

With an HIV prevalence rate of 3.1 percent among adults between the ages of 15-49, Nigeria is home to 2.6 million people living with HIV — the third largest national epidemic in the world.

Nigeria’s AIDS epidemic is complex and varies widely by region. Youth and young adults in Nigeria are particularly vulnerable to HIV, with young women at higher risk than their male counterparts.

There are many risk factors that contribute to the spread of HIV, including prostitution, high-risk practices among itinerant workers, high prevalence of STIs, clandestine high-risk heterosexual and homosexual practices, international trafficking of women, and irregular blood screening.

With support from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and CDC/Nigeria, AIHA’s HIV/AIDS Twinning Center currently manages one partnership in Nigeria. In May 2009, AIHA established a small country office in Nigeria to provide programmatic and logistical support in country.

(source: CIA World Factbook, November 2011)

Updated November 15, 2011