Health
NACA urges stronger domestic funding to sustain Nigeria’s HIV fight
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr Temitope Ilori, has urged Nigeria to adopt a stronger financing strategy to safeguard the country’s HIV response, warning that declining international donor support makes greater domestic resource mobilisation an urgent priority.
Ilori said Nigeria must build a more resilient and self-reliant HIV programme by strengthening domestic financing, improving governance, expanding partnerships and ensuring that available resources are used more efficiently.
A copy of her keynote address, delivered at the Nigeria event during the 26th International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was made available to our correspondent on Wednesday night.
Speaking on the theme, “Sustainability: Strengthening Resource Mobilisation for the National HIV Response in Nigeria,” Ilori said the changing global funding landscape requires countries to rethink how HIV programmes are financed.
She said, “This year’s IAS theme, ‘Rethink. Rebuild. Rise,’ challenges us to re-examine our approaches, strengthen the systems that sustain our progress and rise to meet the evolving realities of the global HIV response. It is a timely call to action that resonates strongly with Nigeria’s journey toward a more resilient, self-reliant and sustainable HIV programme.”
According to her, the theme of the Nigerian event aligns with that global vision by recognising that scientific advances alone will not guarantee long-term success without sustainable financing.
“It reflects the reality that the future of the HIV response depends not only on scientific breakthroughs and effective interventions but also on our collective ability to build resilient, sustainable financing systems that can withstand evolving global economic realities,” she said.
The NACA Director-General noted that Nigeria had made significant progress in tackling HIV over the past two decades through partnerships involving the Federal Government, development partners, civil society organisations, communities of people living with HIV and the private sector.
She said the collaboration had enabled the country to expand HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services, improving health outcomes for millions of Nigerians.
However, Ilori warned that increasing pressure on development assistance means Nigeria must accelerate its transition towards greater domestic ownership of the HIV response.
“Development assistance is becoming increasingly constrained, while competing national and global priorities continue to place pressure on available resources. This changing environment presents both a challenge and an opportunity. It calls on us to reimagine how we finance the HIV response and accelerate our transition toward greater domestic ownership and sustainability,” she said.
She stressed that sustainability should not be viewed simply as replacing donor funding but as strengthening the systems that support the national response.
“Sustainability is not simply about replacing donor funding. It is about building stronger institutions, strengthening governance, improving efficiency, leveraging innovation, expanding partnerships, and ensuring that every available resource delivers maximum impact,” Ilori said.
Calling for practical action, she urged stakeholders to deepen collaboration and identify workable solutions that would secure the future of Nigeria’s HIV response.
“Today’s dialogue presents an opportunity to deepen collaboration and chart practical pathways for sustainable financing. We are here not merely to discuss challenges but to identify actionable solutions and forge stronger partnerships that will shape the future of Nigeria’s HIV response,” she added.
Ilori also announced that NACA would convene a post-IAS stakeholders’ engagement meeting after the conference to review key scientific advances, policy directions, innovations and best practices emerging from IAS 2026 and translate them into concrete actions for Nigeria.
She said, “Following the conclusion of IAS 2026, NACA will convene a Post-IAS Stakeholders’ Engagement Meeting. The objective will be to critically review the key lessons, innovations, policy directions, scientific advances, and best practices emerging from this conference and collectively translate them into practical, specific actions for Nigeria.”
Nigeria has one of the world’s largest HIV treatment programmes, with millions of people accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy through a combination of Federal Government funding and support from international partners. However, recent reductions in global HIV financing have heightened concerns about the sustainability of national HIV programmes.
NACA has increasingly advocated stronger domestic investment, broader private-sector participation, and innovative financing mechanisms to protect the gains recorded in HIV prevention, treatment and care, while ensuring uninterrupted services for people living with HIV.
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