Introduction Benue State in Nigeria is one of the regions in sub-Saharan Africa with rising morbidity and mortality among adults from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. This retrospective study was conducted to determine the impact of the fight against HBV and HIV among antenatal attendees in Makurdi metropolitan city.

Methods A total of 757 cross sectional blood samples; 250 (2007) and 507 (2012) were collected and screened for both Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HIV antibodies. HBsAg was screened using rapid test kits and ELISA kits while HIV antibodies was screened for using Determine (Japan) and Stat Pak (USA) rapid test kits. Other information generated with the help of questionnaire and data analysis was done using chi square in SPSS version 20 software. P values equal or less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results Overall, HBV infection rate of 12.4% (2007) was significantly higher (p=0.027) than 7.5% in 2012 but there was no difference in HIV rates between 2007 and 2012 (p=0.777). There was also a significant difference in HBV rates among attendees with no formal education in 2007 (26.7%) and those of 2012 (8.3%) (p=0.029). HIV on the other hand was significantly (p=0.025) lower among individuals with secondary education in 2008 (1.2%) compared with those of 2012 (8.2%). Farmers (2008) significantly had higher HBV (35.5%) than their counterpart in 2012 (0.0%) (p=0.001). Similarly, HBV infection rates recorded in 2007 was significantly higher than those of 2012 among those vaccinated, unvaccinated (p=0.016). as well as those with history of transfusion (p=0.008), Alcoholics (p=0.043) and surgery (p=0.043).

Conclusion The study observed a significant decrease in HBV infection between 2007 and 2012 attributable to HBV vaccination, safer blood transfusion and surgery. Hence, there is need to sustain the fight against HBV but efforts needs to be intensified towards combating HIV.