IBADAN — The Oyo State Government has commenced training for field and technical personnel ahead of the 2026 Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey (IBBSS), seeking to strengthen evidence-based HIV prevention and improve the quality of data available for health planning.
The training, which began at the Development Support Centre (DSC), Iyaganku, Ibadan, is part of preparations for the nationwide survey designed to generate updated behavioural and biological data on HIV among key populations.
Flagging off the exercise, the Chairman of the Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OYSACA), Aare (Dr.) Gbola Adetunji, described the IBBSS as a critical public health initiative that would help identify emerging HIV trends, service gaps and areas requiring additional resources.
He said the survey would examine socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, beliefs, risk behaviours, access to HIV prevention and care services, awareness of HIV status and treatment uptake among key populations.
The groups covered by the survey include female sex workers (FSW), men who have sex with men (MSM) and people who inject drugs (PWID).
Adetunji said findings from previous IBBSS rounds had indicated a significant HIV burden among key populations, making updated evidence essential for assessing the impact of interventions and guiding future programmes.
He called for greater participation by affected communities, stressing that key population communities should be treated as partners in the HIV response rather than merely as respondents.
The OYSACA chairman charged field and technical teams to conduct the survey ethically and professionally, with emphasis on data quality and credibility.
He also urged community representatives and other stakeholders to support the field teams and help create an environment where participants could provide accurate information without fear, discrimination or stigma.
Adetunji assured the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), the West Africa Centre for Public Health and Development (WACPHD), development partners and other stakeholders of Oyo State’s continued cooperation.
Representing the NACA Director-General, Dr. Temitope Ilori, Joseph Terry described the IBBSS as a national government survey whose protocol had been reviewed by the IBBSS Technical Working Group and approved by the Federal Ministry of Health.
He urged all personnel involved in the exercise to strictly follow the approved protocol and properly document their activities.
Terry said the survey was supported by the Global Fund and that its financing was subject to strict financial and accountability requirements.
He therefore stressed the importance of comprehensive documentation, noting that proper records would be critical to the release of funds linked to implementation milestones.
He also commended the collaboration between OYSACA and WACPHD and urged the organisations to maintain close coordination throughout the exercise.
The WACPHD representative, Chukwebuka Ejeckam, said the organisation was providing technical support for the 2026 IBBSS, which is being conducted simultaneously in 12 states across Nigeria.
Ejeckam cited findings from the 2020 IBBSS, which recorded HIV prevalence of 15.5 per cent among female sex workers and 10.9 per cent among people who inject drugs.
He said the figures underscored the importance of generating fresh data to determine progress and assess whether investments in HIV interventions were producing the desired results.
According to him, about 40 field personnel had been recruited and were undergoing training in Oyo State. The team comprises about 31 personnel for the behavioural component and nine for the biological and serological component, including laboratory personnel and counsellors.
Ejeckam said the training would be followed by hotspot validation and field activities, with data collection expected to run for about two months in September and October.
He said the exercise would subsequently proceed to data analysis, report writing and dissemination of the findings.
The Oyo State implementation coordinator, Aduluju Ayodeji, said field teams would cover the three selected key population categories and appealed to eligible participants and community members to cooperate with the exercise.
He assured participants that confidentiality would be strictly maintained and that information collected would be handled responsibly and securely.
The representative of the Key Population Secretariat, Ajani Kayode, commended OYSACA for its continued support for key population communities in the state and pledged the secretariat’s cooperation.
Also speaking, the Acting Coordinating Director of OYSACA, Mrs Fausat Okanlawon, described the IBBSS as more than a routine survey, saying its findings would serve as an important guide for Nigeria’s HIV response among key populations.
The 2026 exercise is expected to provide updated evidence that will help policymakers, health agencies and development partners assess existing interventions and determine priorities for future HIV prevention and treatment programmes.
