African health experts have called for stronger youth-centred interventions and deeper inclusion of young people in HIV policy design, prevention and care. The call was made at a continental consortium on HIV prevention and care meeting in Africa, convened by the National Institutes of Health, which focused on strengthening HIV prevention, treatment and care across the continent, with particular emphasis on adolescents and young people.
Consortium Highlights Youth Involvement
The forum brought together researchers, policymakers, youth advocates and development partners, who warned that persistently low testing rates among adolescents and young adults remain a major barrier to controlling new infections. Professor of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, Juliette Iwelunmor, who co-chairs the consortium, said the platform has evolved into a recurring continental engagement aimed at improving HIV outcomes for young people.
She explained that the consortium works across African countries to strengthen the full continuum of HIV services for adolescents from prevention to treatment, with the long-term goal of achieving an AIDS-free generation. “Our job as researchers, policymakers, community members and youth advocates is to ensure that nothing we are doing when it comes to HIV is for young people without young people leading the way,” she said.
Innovative Prevention Tools
She noted that young people at the meeting presented innovative ideas on scaling up new HIV prevention tools, including long-acting options such as lenacapavir, and contributed proposals on improving access and uptake of prevention technologies. Iwelunmor stressed that excluding youth voices from programme design risks weakening the effectiveness of HIV interventions, adding that lived experiences are critical to shaping responsive health systems.
She also raised concern over low HIV testing rates among young people across Africa, including Nigeria, noting that while tools such as HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) exist, awareness and access remain limited.
Nigeria's Response Strategy
Representing the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), the Zonal Coordinator for the South West, Dr Temitokwe Ilori, said youth inclusion is central to Nigeria’s national HIV response strategy. She said young people are both the present and future of HIV prevention efforts, stressing that early engagement is critical to reducing new infections.
Ilori noted that recent trends show a rise in HIV cases among young people, describing it as a growing concern that requires targeted and urgent intervention. She emphasised prevention as the most effective strategy, highlighting tools such as PrEP and emerging innovations like lenacapavir as key to strengthening Nigeria’s prevention landscape. She also pointed to ongoing programmes such as prevention of mother-to-child transmission and expanded testing for pregnant women as key pillars of Nigeria’s HIV response.
Lagos State Initiatives
Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, Dr Folakemi Animashaun, said HIV response efforts must be youth-driven, noting that adolescents and young adults account for a significant proportion of reported cases. She said Lagos State has intensified youth-focused interventions across tertiary institutions and secondary schools to improve awareness, prevention and treatment uptake.
Animashaun added that the state is working with youth networks and support groups for people living with HIV to strengthen service delivery and community engagement. She disclosed that the Lagos State Government has approved the procurement of antiretroviral drugs, expected to improve treatment access from 2026. On prevention, she urged increased public awareness, including condom use and regular HIV testing, stressing that early diagnosis remains the most reliable way to know one’s status.
Animashaun added that HIV remains a significant public health challenge requiring sustained education, prevention and treatment efforts across all population groups.
