Summary
Nigeria’s HIV prevention system is grappling with severe setbacks, as new data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) reveals a 55 percent drop in condom distribution between last December and March this year.
The figures, published Tuesday in UNAIDS’ 2025 World AIDS Day report Overcoming Disruption, Transforming the AIDS Response, highlight extensive interruptions affecting prevention, testing, and community-led programmes across multiple countries.
According to the agency, widespread funding cuts since Donald Trump returned to the White House have resulted in an untold number of additional deaths, while 2.5 million people have been cut off from life-saving HIV medication designed to prevent transmission.
UNAIDS warned that “persistent funding shortfalls and the perilous risks facing the global HIV response” are leaving long-lasting impacts on millions worldwide.
For Nigeria, where external donors play a crucial role in sustaining prevention tools and outreach, the consequences have been “immediate and severe,” the report explained. Community organisations working with UNAIDS have already reported fatalities linked to the closure of local clinics and suspended treatment access, though accurate figures remain unavailable as assessments continue.
The global struggle intensified when the United States, which previously accounted for 75 percent of all international HIV funding, temporarily froze all HIV-related support. This move pushed the global AIDS response into what UNAIDS described as “crisis mode.”
Other donor nations, especially in Europe, have also sharply reduced foreign aid commitments after pressure from Trump to prioritise defence spending.
Although some services have resumed through PEPFAR—the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief—UNAIDS said overall investment continues to shrink, putting the goal of ending AIDS as a global health threat by 2030 increasingly at risk.
UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima told reporters in Geneva that the agency is collaborating with over 30 countries to strengthen domestic health financing and reduce reliance on donors. But she cautioned that major obstacles remain, and the widening financial gap cannot be fixed quickly.
Current data shows 40.8 million people are living with HIV, with 1.3 million new cases recorded in 2024, underscoring the urgency of stabilising global support.
The report also noted that disruptions in prevention efforts have left millions without PrEP, the drug that helps prevent HIV infection; an estimated 2.5 million people lost access to PrEP by October 2025 due to funding shortages. Countries like Uganda, Vietnam, and Burundi have experienced dramatic declines in preventive medicine distribution—falling by 31%, 21%, and 64% respectively, Byanyima said.
A survey conducted this year by UNAIDS and the women’s rights organisation ATHENA Network found that nearly half of women and adolescent girls reported interruptions in HIV-related services in their communities.
While HIV infections globally dropped by 39% between 2010 and 2023, sub-Saharan Africa recorded the most progress with a 56% reduction. Yet the world remains far off target: 1.3 million people were newly infected in 2023, more than triple the 2025 goal of 370,000.
UNAIDS warned that condom access—long considered the most effective low-cost prevention option—has weakened due to defunded programmes and reduced social marketing. Recent household surveys reveal falling condom use, especially among young people aged 15–24, and very low usage during sex with non-regular partners.
“About 36% of adults in eastern and southern Africa and 25% in western and central Africa used a condom at last sex.”
The funding crisis remains a major barrier to progress. In 2023, US$19.8 billion was available for HIV programmes in low- and middle-income nations—nearly US$9.5 billion short of what will be required by 2025. In real terms, global HIV resources are now at their lowest level in more than ten years.
Regions with the most severe financial shortages—Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa—have made the least progress in slowing their HIV epidemics.
Although most HIV funding (59%) comes from domestic sources, both local and international budgets are shrinking. When adjusted for inflation, domestic financing dropped for the fourth consecutive year in 2023, and global contributions were nearly 20% lower than their 2013 peak.
Support from bilateral donors has dropped significantly, and experts say the situation would be far worse without the consistent contributions of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the U.S. government.
USAID warned that US$1.8–2.4 billion was available for primary HIV prevention programmes in 2023—far below the US$9.5 billion needed by 2025. It emphasised that underfunding prevention, community-based work, and programmes for key populations undermines the entire fight against HIV.
UNAIDS called on world leaders to renew their financial and political commitments, pointing to pledges made at the recent G20 summit in South Africa. The agency also urged greater investment in new technologies—including low-cost long-acting prevention options—and renewed human rights protections to support the community groups at the centre of the global HIV response.
What You Should Know
This article highlights how Nigeria and many other countries are facing deep disruptions in HIV prevention and treatment due to major global funding cuts.
With condom distribution down by 55 percent in Nigeria and millions losing access to essential medication, the broader global HIV response is now under severe strain.
UNAIDS warns that without renewed financial commitments, progress toward ending AIDS by 2030 is increasingly in jeopardy.
