The National Coordinator of the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Abdulkadir Ibrahim, has called on the federal government to release the $54 million counterpart funding for Tuberculosis and disburse the $200 million approved for HIV, TB and Malaria response following the US funding cuts in 2025.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Ibrahim lamented that despite longstanding commitments to strengthen domestic financing for health and reduce dependence on external support, government investment in TB programming remains inadequate. He decried the persistent gap in domestic financing for TB and the failure to fulfill counterpart funding commitments necessary to sustain donor-supported interventions, warning that current shortages of critical TB commodities pose a serious threat to treatment continuity, patient outcomes, public health gains, and Nigeria's commitment to ending TB as a public health threat.
Ibrahim stated that the inability to meet counterpart funding obligations and proactively procure essential TB commodities is putting the lives of thousands of Nigerians at risk. He disclosed that recent Community-Led Monitoring (CLM) findings from NEPWHAN and its implementing partners indicate widespread disruptions in the availability of essential TB commodities across monitored health facilities. Community monitors documented repeated reports of stock-outs and rationing of anti-TB medicines, diagnostic commodities, and laboratory supplies, resulting in delayed treatment initiation, interrupted treatment continuity, and increased referrals of patients to multiple facilities in search of medicines.
Ibrahim noted that the association's CLM data for the first quarter of this year show that 64.2 percent of monitored facilities reported stock-out of at least one essential TB commodity, especially Drug Susceptible TB CAT1, during the reporting period. Additionally, 58.2 percent of facilities reported shortages of GeneXpert cartridges and sputum collection materials, while 43 percent (921) of patients interviewed reported being asked to return at a later date due to unavailable commodities.
He said, “These findings demonstrate that the TB commodity shortage is already affecting service delivery and patient outcomes. For people living with HIV, who remain at significantly higher risk of developing TB, interruptions in TB diagnosis and treatment substantially increase morbidity and mortality while undermining national HIV epidemic control efforts.”
Ibrahim expressed concern over the continued unavailability and limited access to essential medicines for the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections (OIs) among people living with HIV, particularly those presenting with Advanced HIV Disease (AHD). He stated that the association across its networks has continued to receive reports from community members who were unable to access lifesaving medicines for conditions such as cryptococcal meningitis, Tuberculosis, severe bacterial infections, and other AIDS-related illnesses.
Ibrahim observed that for individuals diagnosed late, returning to care after treatment interruption, or experiencing treatment failure, the lack of access to these critical medicines significantly increases the risk of severe illness and death. He said, “In our last supervisory visits within the AFROCAB small grant funded by UNITAID (THRIVE Project), of the 18 facilities visited across Anambra, Rivers and Benue States, only few facilities in Anambra State reported availability of OI medicines. Others reported none. For communities affected by HIV and TB, this is not merely a supply-chain challenge; it is a life-threatening crisis with far-reaching consequences for patients, families, and the health system.”
Ibrahim explained that the Global Fund supported over 500,000 newly identified TB cases and placed them on treatment in 2025, using the 2026 Global Fund grant allocation to save lives due to the inability of the government to do the needful. He revealed that there are no government funds for 2026 to cover any TB intervention in the country, adding that government counterpart funding of $54 million is yet to be released, including the N200 billion approved by the federal government for HIV, TB and Malaria shortly after the US funding cuts.
Ibrahim noted that Nigeria has made substantial progress in expanding access to HIV and TB services over the years through partnerships between government, development partners, civil society, affected communities, and donors, stressing that these gains are now under serious threat. He cautioned that a reversal of progress at this critical moment would have devastating implications for national efforts to end TB and HIV and achieve universal health coverage. Ibrahim appealed to the government to fulfill all outstanding counterpart funding commitments to TB programmes and establish sustainable domestic financing mechanisms for TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care.
Also speaking, the Senior Advocacy and Marketing Manager at AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Mr Steve Aborishade, stated that TB is a life-threatening disease, adding that the country may begin to experience high cases of TB drug resistance as a result of the present stock-out. Aborishade warned that the development may lead to increased TB infections and deaths in the country and called for the establishment of a special fund for TB and HIV. He said, “If you are on treatment for TB and stop taking your medication, after a while, you will develop resistance and it is a horrible thing, and we have a lot of people who are HIV-positive who are also co-infected with TB. If you miss your medication, you are nearing your death, that is the reality and the irony is that TB is curable, we only need to take that medication but now we are having this medication unavailable in our facilities.” Aborishade observed that Nigeria has made tremendous progress in TB and HIV response but these gains will be reversed if the government fails to act now.
