NACA disowns unauthorised HIV data circulated on social media

NACA disowns unauthorised HIV data circulated on social media

The National Agency for the Control of AIDS has raised concerns over the unauthorised circulation of a publication presenting state-by-state HIV figures for January to March 2026.

The agency said the publication was shared across social media platforms nationwide without official approval or verification.

The Director-General of NACA, Dr Temitope Ilori, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, noting that the publication failed to follow established procedures for requesting, validating, and disseminating HIV-related data.

She said the document, therefore, remained unauthorised.

Ilori emphasised that HIV data cannot be independently extracted and published without due process, noting that clearly defined protocols exist to ensure proper analysis, contextualisation, and accurate communication to the public.

She warned that failure to adhere to those procedures could lead to the misinterpretation and misuse of sensitive public health information, potentially undermining public confidence in national HIV response systems.

Ilori said that although the figures appeared to have been sourced from the National Data Repository dashboard, they only reflected HIV positivity from routine health facility testing and did not represent the true burden of HIV.

According to her, HIV positivity alone is not a valid measure of HIV prevalence or incidence and cannot be used to determine or rank the burden of the disease across states.

“HIV positivity alone is not a valid measure of HIV prevalence or incidence and, as such, cannot be used to determine or rank the burden of HIV.

“Variations in such figures may be influenced by factors including population size, differences in the scale and intensity of testing programmes, as well as disparities in data reporting completeness and timeliness.

“Accordingly, any comparison or ranking of states based solely on these figures is misleading, inaccurate, and invalid,” she said.

The NACA boss added that such variations were influenced by differences in population size, testing coverage, programme intensity, and inconsistencies in data reporting completeness and timeliness across health facilities nationwide.

The NACA boss, therefore, emphasised that any comparison or ranking of states based solely on those figures remained misleading, inaccurate, and invalid within accepted public health data interpretation standards.

Ilori also reiterated that the responsibility for generating, interpreting, and disseminating HIV data and related estimates rests strictly with authorised government health institutions with the required mandate and technical expertise.

“The responsibility for generating, interpreting, and disseminating HIV data and related estimates rests with authorised government health institutions with the requisite mandate and technical expertise.

“Members of the public, as well as organisations seeking HIV-related data, are advised to follow due process by submitting formal requests to the agency,” she added.

The agency, therefore, urged members of the public and organisations seeking HIV-related data to adhere strictly to due process by submitting formal requests through official channels for access to accurate information.