The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has enjoined residents of Abaji and its environs to get tested to know their HIV status.
Director General of the agency, Dr Aliyu Gambo, gave the advice on Thursday during an advocacy visit and flagging off of HIV testing services in the town as part of activities to mark this year’s World AIDs Day.
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He said that knowing one’s status was key to helping people protect themselves against the disease and protecting others.
The NACA boss said people do not need to go to a hospital before they know their status as they could simply buy HIV self-testing kits and do the test.
Demonstrating how to do an HIV self-test, he said one only needs saliva to do the HIV test in the comfort of his/her home. According to him, when people test positive, they could then go to the hospital for a confirmatory test.
The Onah of Abaji and Chairman, traditional council of chiefs in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa, thanked the agency for the sensitisation and testing exercise, adding that a large population of women in the community before now didn’t have adequate information about HIV testing.
He said many youths in the town were unemployed, and called on NACA to help in empowering the youths.
