Chukwu Obinna
ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria risks losing hard-won progress in its HIV response unless immediate and sustained domestic investments are made, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) warns.
In a statement posted Tuesday on its official X handle, NACA states that over-reliance on international donors is no longer sustainable. “Sustainability must be anchored in government commitment, not external support,” the agency says. “True ownership begins with transparent budget allocations.”
The warning follows a major reduction in U.S. global health assistance, including funding cuts from PEPFAR and USAID. Nigeria received more than $600 million from USAID for disease control in 2023. However, frozen funds now threaten essential programmes, from testing to treatment access.
Reacting to the funding gap, the Nigerian government has approved ₦4.8 billion to procure 150,000 HIV treatment packs and included a $200 million provision in the 2025 federal budget.
NACA says these steps are encouraging but stresses that long-term sustainability demands more than emergency funding. “We need deliberate investment in local systems,” the statement notes.
Local pharmaceutical production is also accelerating. Codix Bio Ltd, a Nigerian firm, is set to begin domestic manufacture of HIV and malaria test kits near Lagos. The WHO-backed facility expects to produce 147 million kits annually in partnership with a South Korean tech company.
