PRE- CONFERENCE YOUTH SUMMIT 2016

Theme: Hands on for HIV prevention

According to UNAIDS, HIV/AIDS constitutes one of the world’s largest threats to human development. There are currently 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS, with more than a quarter between the ages of 15-24. Half of all new infections in the world occur in young people.

Nigeria has a youthful population, an estimated 48 million people are adolescents (aged 10-19 years) and young people (aged 20-24 years). Young women aged 20–24 are more affected by HIV than men of the same age group (3.7% compared to 2.4%). It is estimated that there are 160,000 adolescents aged 10–19 years living with HIV with 90,000 being females and 73,000 males. Thousands of adolescents dies of AIDS-related deaths every year.

This year, the World AIDS Day 2016 theme; “Hands on for HIV prevention” encompasses a variety of key activities. One is such is the National HIV Prevention Conference taking place on 29-30 th November 2016. The broad objectives of the conference are to reinvigorate and showcase the gains of HIV/AIDS multi-sectorial intervention to HIV and AIDS in Nigeria and to re- focus the national response.

NACA is also using this opportunity to bring to the fore the need for a greater focus on young people and HIV in Nigeria. In view of this, a Youth Summit is to precede the National HIV Prevention Conference as a forum for discussions and reflections on the role of young person in HIV prevention. It is targeted at adolescent and young people (AYP) that implement HIV prevention programs, AYP living with HIV, internally displaced persons (IDP), in-school youths (Including students in the higher institution, out-of–school youths, key affected population (KAP), persons living with disabilities and married adolescents.

The objectives of the summit are to create opportunities for dialogue and to improve youth participation in the HIV/AIDS response at local, state and national levels. It is designed to deepen the consciousness of young people concerning their involvement in halting the spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

The National HIV Prevention Conference Youth Summit (2016) will be held in Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja on the 28th November 2016.