Nigeria Faces HIV Treatment Shortage, WHO Alerts

WHO Warns: Nigeria at Risk of HIV Treatment Crisis

​The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised alarms that Nigeria is among eight countries at risk of depleting their HIV treatment supplies in the coming months. This situation arises from the U.S. administration’s decision to pause foreign aid, which has significantly disrupted the supply of life-saving antiretroviral (ARV) medications. The affected nations include Nigeria, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ukraine.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that these disruptions could reverse two decades of progress in combating HIV, potentially leading to over 10 million additional HIV cases and 3 million related deaths.

In Nigeria, approximately 1.7 million people live with HIV, making it the country with the third-highest HIV burden in Africa. The nation heavily relies on U.S.-funded programs to supply ARV drugs, with $220 million received in HIV/AIDS aid in 2024. The aid freeze threatens to interrupt treatment for thousands, increasing the risk of drug resistance and new infections.

The WHO has urged the United States to ensure that funding withdrawals are conducted in an orderly manner, allowing affected countries to secure alternative resources. The organization also highlighted that efforts to tackle other diseases, such as polio, malaria, and tuberculosis, have been impacted by the U.S. foreign aid pause.