A Professor of Counselling/Health Psychology at the University of Ibadan, Professor Charles Borromeo Uchenna Uwakwe has submitted that the global HIV/AIDS epidemic remains a significant public health challenge, particularly in Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa and other vulnerable regions.

He made this submission while delivering the 603rd Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ibadan on behalf of the Faculty of Education.

The title of the lecture was: “HIV/AIDS Pandemic is Playing Possum: Secure Our Future Today. Please Be Here for the Cure!”

Professor Uwakwe disclosed that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an infection that attacks the human body's immune system, specifically the white blood cells called CD4 cells, stating that HIV destroys these CD4 cells and weakens a person's immunity against opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis and fungal infections, severe bacterial infections and cancer.

The Don said HIV has infected millions of people around the globe in the past four decades with devastating consequences and in its most advanced stage labeled Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the infected individual has no protection against diseases that may ordinarily not even threaten people who have healthy immune systems.

According to him, AIDS was first recognized as a new disease in 1981 when an increasing number of young homosexual men succumbed to unusual opportunistic infections and rare malignancies.

He recounted that the first set of AIDS cases in Nigeria was diagnosed in 1985 and reported in 1986 in Lagos disclosing that Nigeria currently ranks fourth among the nations in the world with the HIV epidemic and the highest HIV burden in West and Central African regions.

Professor Uwakwe disclosed that the HIV epidemic in Nigeria remains a mixed epidemic partly driven by significant key populations, particularly female sex workers, including both brothel-based female sex workers, and non-brothel based female sex workers, men who have sex with men, and people who inject drugs with substantial overlap with urban casual sexual networks.

He said living with HIV is one proactive approach behavioral scientists have been using to "Secure the Future Today and Ensure we are all Here for the Cure" which includes taking HIV medications as prescribed, maintaining a healthy lifestyle with balanced diet and regular exercise, managing stress, ensuring sufficient sleep, avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol/drug use and seeking consistent medical, mental health support and staying up to date on vaccination and screenings.

He stated that for mental and emotional health, people living with HIV should manage stress, find support, engage in hobbies, prevent transmission, and other illnesses.

Professor Uwakwe noted that the stigma related to HIV/AIDS and the resulting discriminatory attitudes create an environment that fuels the epidemic which is often as a result of inadequate knowledge about the disease in the general population, even among health care professionals.

He, therefore, advocated understanding and removing stigma and discrimination as a critical public health HIV/AIDS prevention strategy in Nigeria.

The Inaugural Lecturer lamented that funding for HIV programs is shrinking globally, hindering progress and causing rising epidemics in certain states of the federation.

He called on the federal, state and local governments to not only address the immediate financial shortfalls but also develop medium and long-term strategies to secure sustainable funding for HIV beyond 2030 so we will all be here for the cure.

The Don also called for the harnessing of the power of science, technology and community involvement to reduce new infections, improve the quality of life for those living with HIV and ultimately work towards ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

He advised that the power of communities in our local governments, which are on the front lines of the response to HIV should be leveraged, by putting in place the mechanisms for their participation in a long-term sustainable response which can be achieved by confirming the role of community-led organisations in the delivery of testing, treatment, prevention and societal-enabler services.

Professor Uwakwe asserted that HIV prevention and treatment services will reach people only if human rights are upheld, unfair laws against women and people from marginalized communities, as well as most-at-risk populations are removed and discrimination and violence tackled.

He said to achieve an AIDS-free Nigeria, the future direction in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa's most populous nation should be marked by a commitment to a comprehensive and inclusive approach with research endeavours that address the individual, social and structural factors contributing to the pandemic in Nigeria.

The Inaugural Lecture was the twenty-sixth in the series for the 2024/2025 academic session.