Lagos — Lagos State Government at the weekend confirmed that over 500, 000 Lagosians, including 100, 000 children, are HIV positive.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris gave the figure at commemoration of the World AIDS day, saying that the figure represents 3.3 percent of the population, which is lower than the South West zonal average.

Dr. Idris added that four million Nigerians are currently living with the HIV virus, with more than one million children infected, and a national prevalence rate of 4.4 percent.

He stated that the United Nations AIDS Agency UNAIDS estimated that 39.6million people worldwide are living with HIV including 2.3million children.

According to Idris, in 2006 alone, 4.3million people were infected with the virus. The commissioner further stated that the world AIDS campaign slogan which is Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise, appeals to governments, policymakers and regional health authorities, to ensure that they meet the many targets that had been set in the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially the promise of universal access to HIV treatment, care, support and prevention services by 2010.