House of Reps Calls for $8 Billion Annual Funding to Sustain HIV/AIDS Fight in Nigeria

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Control, Amobi Ogah, has said that Nigeria requires an estimated $8 billion annually to sustain the battle against HIV/AIDS.
Ogah made the statement at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Nigeria HIV prevention conference themed, *’Accelerating HIV Prevention to End AIDS through Innovations and Community Engagement,’* organised by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, in Abuja, the first of its kind in Nigeria.
He highlighted the urgent need to address the HIV/AIDS crisis, stating that Nigeria is home to approximately 1.8 million people living with HIV, with the highest burden of children born with the virus globally, and despite efforts, the target to eliminate Mother-To-Child Transmission by 2030 remains distant.
The Chairman emphasized the necessity for a comprehensive reevaluation and strategic overhaul of HIV prevention programs, stressing the importance of increasing domestic funding, strengthening interventions, and mobilizing communities to combat stigmatization and discrimination.