The Federal Capital Territory Administration says Nigeria risks losing momentum in the fight against HIV/AIDS unless awareness and services penetrate deeper into rural communities, where stigma, insecurity and poor access continue to frustrate progress.
The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Health Services and Environment Secretariat, Adedolapo Fasawe, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Babagana Adams, on Tuesday, sounded the warning at the 2025 World AIDS Day commemoration in Abuja.
“The people who need the message more are in the communities.
“We can’t succeed in sustaining the campaign against AIDS without going closer to the rural areas,” she said.
Fasawe said the 2025 theme, “Overcoming Disruptions: Sustaining Nigeria’s HIV Response,” highlights the urgent need for domestic resource mobilisation as donor funding continues to shrink.
She listed insecurity, inaccessible settlements and lingering stigma as major barriers the government is determined to confront.
“The government is committed to ensuring access, affordability and availability so that treatment success rates improve,” she added.
Supporting the FCTA’s stance, the FCT Regional Manager of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, Tangkat Hosle, said strengthening local ownership and sustaining innovation remain essential if Nigeria hopes to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
“This day allows us to review our interventions and see how far we’ve come,” he said, describing the FCT’s coordination platform as vital.
Hosle said that despite progress that has transformed HIV from a fatal disease into a manageable chronic condition, the poor, women and children remain disproportionately affected.
He reaffirmed the Institute’s commitment to working with the government to strengthen the health system and expand innovative prevention and treatment options.
Meanwhile, the Director of the FCT Department of Public Health, Dan Gadzama, said the administration has reinforced its community structures through a First-Class Committee that interfaces directly with area councils.
“We educate people about HIV, including the availability of treatment and preventive services. Treatment is free,” he said.
Gadzama noted that community mobilisers, civil society groups and PLHIV support networks are driving service uptake across all six area councils.
With external contributions, especially from the United States, declining, he said the FCT is increasingly turning to domestic financing.
“With dwindling funding, it is important that programmes like malaria, tuberculosis and other services are integrated to minimise cost and ensure wider access,” he added.
He pointed to global innovations, including long-acting injectable drugs that provide monthly HIV prevention, as tools that can help sustain the response.
Responding to concerns that HIV advocacy shouldn’t end in symposium halls, Gadzama stressed that activities were already underway across the territory.
“Activities started in all the area councils on Sunday and will continue till Friday. This event is simply for key stakeholders to dialogue on ways to close gaps in HIV services,” he said.
He reaffirmed that the FCT Administration would continue to deepen partnerships and drive innovations that protect communities from disruptions in HIV care.
The PUNCH reports Nigeria carries one of the world’s largest HIV burdens, with the estimates from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and National Agency for the Control of AIDS, placing the figure around 1.7 to 1.9 million people.
Despite treatment expansion improving outcomes, challenges persist — shrinking donor funding, insecurity, stigma, and difficult-to-reach communities continue to slow progress and limit viral suppression.