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According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), condom distribution in Nigeria has dropped by 55% over the past year. This decline reflects a deepening crisis in the global HIV response.
The figure was released on Tuesday in Geneva during the launch of UNAIDS’ 2025 World AIDS Day report, Overcoming Disruption, Transforming the AIDS Response. The agency said the world is facing its “worst setback in decades” in the fight against HIV, with prevention, testing, and community-led programmes severely disrupted across multiple regions.
According to the report, 13 countries have recorded declines in the number of people newly initiated on treatment. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 450,000 women have lost access to “mother mentors,” community health workers who help link pregnant women and new mothers to lifesaving care.
UNAIDS warned that abrupt funding cuts and worsening human rights conditions are undermining prevention and treatment services in dozens of countries. “The funding crisis has exposed the fragility of the progress we fought so hard to achieve,” UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said.
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“Behind every data point in this report are people,” she added. “Babies missed for HIV screening, young women cut off from prevention support, and communities suddenly left without services and care. We cannot abandon them.”
The agency noted that adolescent girls and young women remain disproportionately affected, with 570 new HIV infections recorded daily among females aged 15 to 24, even before the current disruptions. With prevention programmes collapsing, UNAIDS warned that vulnerability among this group is growing.
Community-led groups-described as the backbone of the global HIV response-are also struggling. Over 60 per cent of women-led organisations have had to suspend essential services due to financial strain.
UNAIDS modelling shows that failure to restore prevention efforts could result in 3.3 million additional HIV infections between 2025 and 2030.
The crisis, the agency said, is being fueled by declining international assistance, with OECD projections indicating global health funding may fall by 30 to 40 per cent in 2025 compared with 2023. “The impact has been immediate and severe, especially in low- and middle-income countries highly affected by HIV,” UNAIDS warned.
The agency urged world leaders to reaffirm commitments made at the recent G20 Summit in South Africa, strengthen global solidarity, increase funding for countries most reliant on external support, invest in affordable long-acting prevention tools, and uphold human rights as communities remain central to an effective HIV
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