Incidence, Prevalence and Impact of HIV Infections among Older Persons in Nigeria

Elias olukorede wahab, Lagos State University

Due to the paucity of data on HIV infection among the older persons, the burden of this disease is almost always ignored, thus representing a significant blind spot in the fight against the disease. UNAIDSnaids (2016) stated that ‘’globally” around 2.8 million older persons lived with HIV in 2015. Also, aged 50 years and above accounted for 10% of the cumulative HIV infection in the USA. However, same is unknown for Nigeria. This study therefore elicited the required database. Data sources include social survey, world population prospects, and grey literature covering 2020-2022. Data therefore are derived from questionnaire schedule. The study found that 1/3 of a million of older persons representing 2.1% of the total Nigerian population have HIV compared to above 2millions of those aged 15-49 (3.1 % of the population). There is need to integrate the needs of the older persons into responses to the HIV epidemic.