By Chioma OBINNA& Emmanuel ELEBEKE
AS the world celebrate this year’s World AIDS Day, Lagos State Government yesterday said it has  intensified efforts towards ensuring access to improved HIV&AIDS preventive and curative services in the state.

Commissioner for  Health, Dr. Jide Idris,  maintained that PLWHA should be an integral part of the society with equal right as any other citizen without limitation and discrimination.

He said: “The State government had already taken the lead in the fight against discrimination against people living with the disease with the passage of the law in 2007.  Presently a lot of sensitization on the law is going on throughout the state and this has started since year 2009. There should be no discrimination at workplaces, public places, no travelling restriction and should have equal rights as people that are not infected”.

He noted that the Agency since its establishment has done nothing short of leading the war against HIV&AIDS through its numerous activities of prevention and control of the spread of the pandemic stressing that the Agency with its focused leadership and coordination has been able to sensitise the Lagos community effectively.

He added that through its efforts, the 2005 National HIV&AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey has shown that more than 97 per cent of Lagosians have heard of HIV&AIDS and 94 per cent of them have good knowledge of its prevention. According to him, the idea is to encourage people more on prevention rather than cure, which he said is more realistic and less expensive.

With 5.1 percent HIV prevalence rate the State government through the LASACA is intensifying efforts via its numerous activities of prevention and control of the HIV.