There are about 1.9 million Nigerians living with HIV or at least that was what everyone thought.

This meant that despite finding and placing over one million people on treatment with antiretrovirals (ARVs), it was still estimated that over 50% of those infected with HIV did not know their status

Two South-south states are among the three states with the highest HIV prevalence rate in Nigeria.

Akwa Ibom tops the prevalence rate chart with about 5.5 per cent of its residents living with the virus. It is followed by Benue which has a prevalence rate of 5.3 per cent while Rivers is third with a prevalence rate of 3.8 per cent.

The details were contained in the Nigerian HIV/AIDs Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) whose result was released in Abuja.

The result shows that about one per cent of Nigerians (1.9 million people) are currently living with HIV/AIDs.

This figure, according to the Ministry of Health, moves Nigeria from second to the fourth position among countries battling the HIV epidemic, while South Africa is still first with 7.2 million people

Below is the full list of states and their HIV prevalence rate. States

HIV prevalence (%)

Abia 2.1

Adamawa 1.2

Akwa Ibom 5.5

Anambra 2.4

Bauchi 0.5

Bayelsa 1.9

Benue 5.3

Borno 1.2

Cross River 2

Delta 1.9

Ebonyi 0.8

Edo 1.9

Ekiti 0.8

Enugu 2.0

Gombe 1.3

Imo 1.8

Jigawa 0.3

Kaduna 1.1

Kano 0.6

Katsina 0.3

Kebbi 0.6

Kogi 0.9

Kwara 1.0

Lagos 1.4

Nassarawa 2.0

Niger 0.7

Ogun 1.6

Ondo 1.1

Osun 0.9

Oyo 0.9

Plateau 1.6

Rivers 3.8

Sokoto 0.4

Taraba 2.9

Yobe 0.4

Zamfara 0.5

FCT 1.6

HIV prevalence rate according to Zones

Zones HIV prevalence (%)

South-South 3.1

South-East 1.9

South-West 1.2

North-Central 2.1

North-West 0.6

North-East 1.1

Pay attention to your health, know your status today, stay safe.