The state Coordinator, Ebonyi State Action Committee on AIDS (EBOSACA), Mr Ezzagu Nwiboko, has said that the HIV/AIDS infection rate in Ebonyi has dropped from three to 0.9 per cent.

According to Ceoafrica, Nwiboko made the disclosure in an interview in Abakaliki, yesterday.

He said that the figure represented a drastic reduction in the infection rate, adding that “we used to record two or more cases of the virus in every hundred.

According to him, “We will not rest on our oars till we bring it down to zero per cent; we are still worried that the prevalence of the scourge is still high among the commercial sex workers and drivers”.

“A visit to places where these long-distant drivers stop for relaxation and where commercial sex workers operate shows that HIV is easily contracted there”, he added.

Nwiboko said that the agency was currently experiencing shortage of anti-retroviral drugs to be distributed to the people living with HIV/AIDS.

“This is hampering our service delivery and we have made arrangements to take delivery of anti-retroviral drugs in the next three months from new donor-partners.

“The agreement we had with our previous partners has elapsed; we commend the state government for its tremendous funding of our activities and we still encourage individuals, especially the youths, to develop safe-sex culture.

“This will enable us and other concerned agencies to effectively manage the prevailing cases and eradicate new infections”, Nwiboko said.