Condom distribution in Nigeria has fallen sharply, dropping by 55 per cent over the past year, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has reported.
Presenting its 2025 World AIDS Day report, Overcoming Disruption, Transforming the AIDS Response, UNAIDS cautioned that the global fight against HIV is experiencing its most significant challenges in decades.
“Nigeria recorded a 55 per cent drop in condom distribution,” the agency said, highlighting interruptions to HIV prevention, testing, and community-driven programmes. Across 13 countries, the number of people newly starting treatment has also declined.
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In sub-Saharan Africa, around 450,000 women have lost access to “mother mentors,” community workers who connect them with essential healthcare services, according to UNAIDS.
The agency attributed these setbacks to sudden funding cuts and worsening human rights conditions, which are disrupting prevention and treatment efforts in multiple countries.
“The funding crisis has exposed the fragility of the progress we fought so hard to achieve,” UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Behind every data point in this report are people,” she added. “Babies missed for HIV screening, young women cut off from prevention support, and communities suddenly left without services and care. We cannot abandon them.”
UNAIDS further noted that adolescent girls and young women were already disproportionately affected before the current crisis, with 570 new HIV infections occurring daily among women aged 15 to 24.
“This is our moment to choose,” Byanyima said. “We can allow these shocks to undo decades of hard-won gains, or we can unite behind the shared vision of ending AIDS. Millions of lives depend on the choices we make today.”
The agency warned that dismantling prevention programmes leaves young women increasingly vulnerable. Community-led organisations, described as the backbone of HIV outreach, are also under pressure, with more than 60 per cent of women-led organisations reporting they had to suspend critical services.
UNAIDS modelling indicates that failure to restore prevention efforts could result in an additional 3.3 million new HIV infections between 2025 and 2030.
The report also highlighted a steep decline in international aid, with projections showing external health funding could fall by 30 to 40 per cent in 2025 compared with 2023.
“The impact has been immediate and severe, especially in low- and middle-income countries highly affected by HIV,” the agency said.
In conclusion, UNAIDS urged world leaders to reaffirm global solidarity and multilateral commitments, including those pledged at the recent G20 Leaders’ Summit in South Africa. The agency also called for sustained investment in innovation, affordable long-acting prevention methods, and the protection of human rights as central to effective HIV responses.
(NAN)
