• Urges action to fill remaining gaps
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
United States Centre for Disease Control (US-CDC) said Nigeria had attained measurable progress in the fight against the spread of the HIV virus.
The centre said Nigeria recorded 96 per cent target of viral load suppression from among HIV patients placed on regular treatment programme.
Branch Chief, Continuum of Care and Treatment, U.S. CDC, Nigeria, Dr. Dennis Onotu, who spoke in an interview with THISDAY in Abuja, said viral load suppressor was a new global strategy used to prevent continued spread of HIV virus infection.
According to Onotu, statistics from the Nigeria national data repository said as of June 2026, out of 1.5 million people on antiretroviral therapy, who had a viral load test in the past 12 months, 96 per cent achieved viral suppression.
He stated, “That is above the UNAIDS target of 95 per cent. But that is programme-related suppression.
“The 95-95-95 UNAIDS targets requires increased testing, treatment adherence, and regular viral load monitoring.”
With Nigeria already above target on suppression among those in care, Onotu said the next push will be to find the missing people and ensure no one was left behind in the fight to stop AIDS.
The health expert stated that the attention of the federal government must now shift to the remaining four per cent who were on treatment but not suppressed, to find out what was responsible.
He said reaching people who were HIV positive but did not know their status had become more critical.
“If people don’t know their HIV status, of course, they will not be on treatment and will not be suppressed,” he said
Onotu cautioned that failure to achieve viral load suppression among people living with HIV posed serious risks to individuals and public health.
He explained that viral load suppression meant treatment was working and the virus was under control. But when suppression was not achieved, the virus continued to replicate and damage the immune system.
Onotu stated, “For those not on treatment, the virus will keep doing damage until it completely destroys immunity. For those on treatment but not suppressed, it usually means they are not taking their drugs regularly or correctly.”
He warned that continued replication left patients vulnerable to infections that healthy people could easily fight, such as tuberculosis, fungal infections, and other HIV-related complications. It also increased the risk of drug resistance, where the virus learnt to resist medication, he said.
Beyond individual health, there were public health implications also, Onotu said.
According to him, “A person who is not virally suppressed can potentially transmit HIV to others through unprotected sex, exposure to blood, and from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.”