Nigeria remains on course to achieve HIV epidemic control by 2030 despite recording about 45,000 new infections last year, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has said.

The Director-General of NACA, Temitope Ilori, who disclosed this yesterday in Lagos, said the emergence of new infections, particularly among young people, required renewed efforts to improve HIV awareness, prevention and access to treatment.

Ilori spoke at the opening of a two-day training for media personnel on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), organised by NACA in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

She said inadequate knowledge, misinformation and persistent myths about HIV remained major obstacles to prevention, urging journalists and social media practitioners to intensify public education and help dispel misconceptions about the virus.

According to the NACA chief, although about 1.3 per cent of the general population is living with HIV, more than 98 per cent of Nigerians are HIV-negative.

She stressed that the country’s HIV response should therefore focus strongly on preventing new infections while ensuring that people living with HIV have access to treatment.

On treatment, Ilori said HIV was no longer a death sentence despite the absence of a cure, noting that highly effective antiretroviral medicines were available free of charge at government health facilities.
MEANWHILE, the Federal Government has commenced the 2026 Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey (IBBSS), aiming to generate new data to strengthen HIV prevention and response among key populations across the country.

The survey, being implemented simultaneously in 12 states, is expected to generate current behavioural and biological data on HIV, including information on risk behaviours, access to prevention and care services, HIV status awareness and treatment uptake.

The exercise was disclosed in Ibadan during the training of stakeholders for the Oyo State component of the survey, held at the Development Support Centre (DSC), Iyaganku.

Representing the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Temitope Ilori, Mr Joseph Terry described the IBBSS as a national government survey whose protocol had been reviewed by the IBBSS Technical Working Group and approved by the Federal Ministry of Health.

He urged implementing teams to strictly adhere to the approved protocol and ensure proper documentation of all activities.

Terry noted that the exercise, supported by the Global Fund, was subject to strict financial and accountability requirements, stressing that comprehensive documentation would be critical to the release of funds tied to implementation milestones.