LAGOS RALLIES FOR WORLD AIDS DAY 2025, INTENSIFIES COMMUNITY HIV SERVICES
The Lagos State Government has stepped up efforts to strengthen HIV prevention, testing, and treatment ahead of World AIDS Day 2025, even as it works to recover from major disruptions caused by a Stop Work Order issued earlier in the year by the United States Government.
Photo L-R: State Director, Excellence Community Education Welfare Scheme, Dr. Idayat Uthman; State AIDS Programme Coordinator (SAPC), Dr. Oludipupo Fisher; Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), Dr. Folakemi Animasaun and National Programme Officer, United Nation Programme on HIV AIDS, Dr. Temitope Fadiya, during a media briefing on the forthcoming 2025 World AIDS Day in Lagos.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State AIDS Control
Agency (LSACA), Dr. Folakemi Animashaun,
stated this during a press briefing on Thursday in Lagos, where she outlined
renewed strategies to restore community HIV services affected by the directive.
Dr. Animashaun, who officially launched this year’s
commemoration themed “Overcoming
Disruptions: Sustaining Nigeria’s HIV Response,” said the U.S.
Stop-Work Order significantly slowed down community-based HIV testing,
outreach, counselling, and psychosocial services across several hard-to-reach
areas.
“These interruptions demonstrated that the strength of any
health response lies not just in hospitals but in the continuity and trust of
community engagement,” she said.
Despite the
setbacks, she commended community partners for their swift reorganisation,
resilience, and their ability to reconnect newly diagnosed individuals to
treatment.
“Community
networks such as peer educators, support groups, youth advocates, faith organisations,
and civil society groups remain the backbone of Lagos State’s HIV response,” she
noted.
Updating reporters on the state’s HIV situation, Dr.
Animashaun disclosed that Lagos has an estimated 160,000
people living with HIV, with 147,466 currently on
antiretroviral therapy.
From January to September 2025, the State conducted 222,415
HIV tests, representing only 28.9%
of last year’s testing volume—a decline directly tied to
disruptions in community services.
However, she noted that the Statewide
Community HIV Testing Campaign, launched on November 18, is
already recording encouraging results. So far, 9,943 residents
have been tested with 3,402 males and 6,541 females—an overall positivity rate
of 2 per cent, and all positive cases linked to care.
The campaign, she added, is seeing strong participation from
youths aged 20–35 and women in areas such as Ikorodu, Badagry, Ojo, and Mushin,
indicating that HIV remains a significant public health concern requiring sustained
vigilance.
To restore lost momentum, Lagos State is now fully
implementing its Community Recovery Plan,
which includes intensified outreach in priority communities, reactivation of
support groups, expanded multi-month drug dispensing, and active tracking of
individuals who have fallen out of care.
As part of the World AIDS Day schedule, LSACA has lined up
statewide activities: a Jumat service on Friday, a novelty football match on
Saturday, a church service on Sunday, an awareness walk with an empowerment
programme on Monday, December 1, and a high-level symposium on Tuesday,
December 2.
A key priority for the 2025 commemoration is eliminating
stigma and discrimination. Dr. Animashaun said LSACA has expanded sensitisation
across markets, schools, faith institutions, and community clusters.
“No individual should ever feel excluded or dehumanised
because of their HIV status,” she affirmed.
She also acknowledged the media’s crucial role in promoting
accurate information and amplifying progress in the HIV response.
Dr. Animashaun concluded with a call for collective
responsibility: “As we commemorate World AIDS Day 2025, let us strengthen community
networks, support early testing, and ensure that every Lagos resident has
access to care without fear or stigma.”
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