135,000 Lagosians living with HIV -Commissioner

The Lagos State Government has revealed that over 135,000 residents are currently living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), highlighting the ongoing public health challenge in Nigeria’s most populous state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed this on Wednesday during a media briefing to mark the second anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.

“135,224 residents are living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV),” Abayomi said, adding that the state government has intensified awareness and intervention efforts by engaging more than 100 religious leaders as HIV and AIDS ambassadors.

He explained that the involvement of faith leaders is aimed at reducing stigma and improving community-level outreach.

“We are using trusted voices to drive education, testing, and treatment in our communities,” he said.

In addition to tackling HIV, the state has provided free cervical cancer screenings for 154,228 women and treated 8,613 with thermal ablation.

It also conducted prostate cancer screenings for 300 men, alongside screening 312,927 people for hypertension and diabetes.

“In a population of 30 million, the estimated hypertension prevalence is 20%, and 70% of them are unaware of the disease,” the commissioner noted.

He also revealed that Lagos has a 12% obesity rate and a 6% diabetes prevalence, with 50% of those affected unaware of their condition.

Despite these health challenges, the state is grappling with a critical shortage of medical personnel.

Abayomi disclosed that Lagos needs an additional 33,000 doctors and 33,000 nurses to meet healthcare demands.

“We have 7,000 doctors in the state, but the state needs an additional 33,000,” he said.

To address this, he said the Lagos State University of Medicine and Health is expected to produce 2,500 healthcare workers annually within five years, including doctors, nurses, and laboratory scientists.

Meanwhile, only 4.17% of registered residents; about 1.25 million people, have taken up the state’s health insurance policy.

However, Abayomi expressed optimism that the recently passed mandatory health insurance law would boost enrolment and funding.

“The new mandatory nature of the state health insurance act would significantly scale up the size of the pool of funds,” he said.

He also reported that major health infrastructure projects, including the New Massey Street Children’s Hospital, the Ojo General Hospital, and the Mental Health Institute in Epe, are nearing completion and are expected to be commissioned by April 2026.

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