Stakeholders in the health sector have called for increased domestic financing, improved budgetary provisions and greater youth participation to sustain the country’s HIV/AIDS response beyond 2030.
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At a multi-stakeholder dialogue convened by the Technology for Inspiration Initiative (Inspire IT), in partnership with Africa REACH, to promote youth participation in health policy, budgeting and sustainable HIV financing, stakeholders called for establishment of a Sustainable Youth HIV Financing Mechanism and a unified, transparent and sustainable financing mechanism for youths and young people living with HIV.

They emphasized the need to explore a Youth Trust Fund and innovative Public–Private Partnerships (PPP) to mobilize domestic resources, strengthen community-led responses, and ensure continuity of youth-focused interventions.

‎Speaking at the event, representing the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr. Promise Philips therefore called for innovative domestic resource mobilisation to reduce dependence on external funding and sustain HIV prevention, treatment, data management and community support programmes.

He noted that Nigeria’s HIV response remains heavily dependent on international donors, whose funding is declining due to global conflicts and economic challenges.
Philips stated that Nigeria has made significant progress in the fight against HIV, with national prevalence among adults aged 15 to 64 declining from 5.8 per cent in 2001 to 1.3 per cent, according to the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey.
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‎He observed that the number of people living with HIV has increased significantly in recent years, creating greater demand for lifelong antiretroviral treatment and putting additional pressure on healthcare financing.
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‎Also speaking, the Head of the Non-Communicable Disease Unit, Community Health Services Department of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Suleiman Lamorde stressed the need for young people to engage lawmakers and other stakeholders in advocating for increased healthcare funding.

He observed that young people are key to strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare system and have a significant role to play in health advocacy, social mobilisation and community-based healthcare delivery
‎Lamorde said the agency works with youth groups and other stakeholders on health interventions, including the HPV vaccination programme for girls aged nine to 14, aimed at preventing cervical cancer.
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‎On her part, the Convener of the dialogue and CEO of Technology for Inspiration Initiative, Adanna Ononiwu, called on young people to move beyond being beneficiaries of health programmes and become active stakeholders, advocates and future decision-makers.
‎Ononiwu stressed that Nigeria could not depend indefinitely on international donors and urged greater collaboration among government, civil society, the private sector, development partners, the media and communities.

She noted that the dialogue was aimed at encouraging young Nigerians to take an active role in health policy, budgeting and sustainable HIV financing.

‎The stakeholders agreed that stronger domestic investment, improved accountability, health insurance, effective communication and meaningful youth participation were essential to sustaining HIV prevention and treatment in Nigeria beyond 2030.

In a communique issued at the end of the dialogue, participants highlighted the importance of strengthening community-led HIV awareness, service uptake and accountability.

They stressed the need to strengthen community-level HIV demand generation, health literacy and service accountability, particularly in underserved and rural communities, through meaningful youth participation in monitoring health facilities, promoting HIV prevention and treatment literacy, supporting linkage and retention in care, and maximizing locally available community resources and structures.

Stakeholders advocated for institutionalization, coordination and meaningful youth participation in HIV governance and the establishment of a coordinated national platform for youth-led and youth-serving organizations to facilitate collective advocacy, representation and accountability.

They called for meaningful youth participation, including a minimum 30 per cent representation in HIV planning, budgeting, policy development, implementation and review processes, while ensuring civil society actors are adequately engaged in national and sub-national HIV responses.

Emphasis was also made on building youth capacity in HIV financing, policy, data and stigma reduction, development and implementation of a structured youth capacity-strengthening agenda covering public health budgeting and budget-cycle processes, health financing and health insurance, HIV policies and governance structures, data generation and documentation and evidence-based advocacy, and stigma and discrimination reduction strategies to enable young people to participate effectively in HIV decision-making and accountability processes.