NIGERIA: Over 135,000 Living With HIV In Lagos – Health Commissioner

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

The Lagos State Government has disclosed that over 135,000 residents are currently living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

This was revealed by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, during a media briefing held on Wednesday to commemorate the second anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.

According to Abayomi, “135,224 residents are living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV),” adding that the state has scaled up its public health response by partnering with more than 100 religious leaders as HIV and AIDS ambassadors.

The commissioner emphasized the use of “trusted voices” in communities to drive awareness and support health-seeking behaviors.

According to the Commissioner, the state is also addressing other pressing health issues. He stated that over 154,000 women have benefitted from free cervical cancer screening, and 8,613 have undergone thermal ablation treatment.

The state was also reported to have conducted prostate cancer screenings for 300 men and screened over 312,000 residents for hypertension and diabetes.

Abayomi noted that about 20% of Lagos’s 30 million residents are estimated to be living with hypertension, with 70% unaware of their condition. He also stated that 12% of the population is obese, and 6% has diabetes , with half of those affected unaware.

Despite these efforts, according to him, the health sector in Lagos is severely understaffed. The commissioner revealed that the state is short of 33,000 doctors and 33,000 nurses, with only 7,000 doctors currently in service.

To bridge this gap, Abayomi mentioned that Lagos State University of Medicine and Health is projected to produce 2,500 healthcare professionals annually over the next five years, including doctors, nurses, and lab scientists.

In terms of healthcare access, he disclosed that only 4.17% of residents are enrolled in the state’s health insurance scheme. However, he expressed hope that the newly passed mandatory health insurance law would increase enrolment and boost funding.

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

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