A new report from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has revealed a severe setback in Nigeria's fight against HIV, with the distribution of condoms falling by a staggering 55% over the past year.
A Global Setback for HIV Response
The alarming statistic was published in the UNAIDS 2025 World AIDS Day report, titled 'Overcoming Disruption, Transforming the AIDS Response,' which was launched on Tuesday. The agency warned that the global HIV response is facing its most significant reversal in decades due to widespread disruptions.
Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, stated from Geneva that the decline is a direct result of abrupt funding cuts and a deteriorating human rights environment. "The funding crisis has exposed the fragility of the progress we fought so hard to achieve," she said.
Severe Consequences for Vulnerable Groups
The report highlights that the impact extends far beyond condom distribution. Across 13 countries, the number of people starting HIV treatment has also declined. The consequences are particularly dire for women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa.
Approximately 450,000 women have lost access to "mother mentors," who are community workers supporting their connection to healthcare. Furthermore, adolescent girls and young women, who were already disproportionately affected, now face even greater risks.
The report estimates that 570 new HIV infections occur daily among females aged 15 to 24. More than 60% of women-led organisations have been forced to suspend essential services, leaving communities suddenly without care.
The Urgent Need for Action and Funding
UNAIDS modelling presents a grim future if the current disruption continues, predicting an additional 3.3 million new HIV infections globally between 2025 and 2030. A major driver of this crisis is the sharp decline in international assistance.
Projections from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development indicate that external health funding could drop by 30 to 40 per cent in 2025 compared to 2023 levels.
UNAIDS is urgently calling on world leaders to increase HIV funding, especially for countries that rely on external support. The agency also emphasized the critical need to invest in innovations like affordable long-acting prevention and to empower community-led organisations, which are central to an effective HIV response.
Byanyima issued a powerful call to action: "This is our moment to choose. 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."
