DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Technology

Oyo State boosts HIV fight with new data surveillance training

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Oyo State, Nigeria, is strengthening HIV prevention strategies through improved data collection and research.
  • The government launched training for the 2026 Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey to gather data on key populations.
  • The survey aims to understand HIV trends, identify service gaps, and guide resource allocation for better health outcomes.

Oyo State, Nigeria, is intensifying its commitment to evidence-based HIV prevention by enhancing data collection and research. The government officially launched training for the 2026 Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey (IBBSS) on Wednesday, a crucial step in understanding and combating HIV.

The training, held in Ibadan, prepares stakeholders for a nationwide survey designed to generate current, reliable behavioral and biological data on HIV among key populations. Aare (Dr.) Gbola Adetunji, Chairman of the Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS, highlighted the survey's importance in identifying emerging HIV trends, pinpointing service gaps, and ensuring effective resource allocation.

The 2026 IBBSS would generate information on the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, beliefs, risk behaviours, access to HIV prevention and care services, HIV status awareness and treatment uptake among key populations, including Female Sex Workers, Men Who Have Sex with Men, and People Who Inject Drugs.

— Aare (Dr.) Gbola AdetunjiChairman of the Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS, describing the scope of the upcoming survey.

The IBBSS will collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, behaviors, access to services, and treatment uptake among groups such as Female Sex Workers, Men Who Have Sex with Men, and People Who Inject Drugs. Adetunji stressed that previous surveys revealed a significant HIV burden among these populations, making updated data essential for evaluating interventions and shaping future programs. He also called for greater community involvement, urging that key populations be seen as partners, not just respondents.

Field and technical teams were charged with conducting a credible, ethical, and high-quality exercise to improve HIV policies and health outcomes. Stakeholders and community representatives are encouraged to support the field teams, fostering an environment where participants can share information without fear of discrimination or stigma. The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) emphasized the survey's national importance, requiring strict adherence to its approved protocol.

The exercise must be treated as a national assignment, with strict adherence to the approved protocol and proper documentation of all activities.

— Joseph TerryRepresenting the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, emphasizing the survey's national importance.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog