Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Professor John Idoko has advocated the need for the passage of an Anti-Discrimination Bill aimed at protecting the rights and dignity of people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.
Speaking in Abuja at a stakeholders meeting on the proposed HIV/AIDS Anti-discrimination Act, Professor Idoko stressed the need for an act to make provisions for the prevention of HIV and AIDS-based discrimination and to protect the human rights and dignity of people living with and people affected by HIV and AIDS.
Professor Idoko added that the absence of an Anti-Discrimination Bill is affecting the fight against HIV/AIDS as more than 40 percent of Nigerians have refused to get tested in order to know their status due to fear of discrimination.
He further added that a reduction in stigma can help reduce new cases of infection of HIV/AIDS as the National Agency for the Control of AIDS is working towards achieving zero infections in order to reduce the nation’s prevalence rate from four point one.