UNAIDS reports Nigeria condom distribution fell 55%, warning of disrupted HIV prevention and rising risks for young women.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS has reported a 55 per cent decline in condom distribution in Nigeria over the past year, signalling a severe setback in the country’s HIV prevention efforts.

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The UN agency launched its 2025 World AIDS Day report, Overcoming Disruption, Transforming the AIDS Response, in Geneva on Tuesday, highlighting global disruptions to HIV testing, prevention, and community-led programmes.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said that abrupt funding cuts and a deteriorating human rights environment were undermining progress made over decades.

“Babies missed for HIV screening, young women cut off from prevention support, and communities suddenly left without services and care. We cannot abandon them,” she said.

The report revealed that 450,000 women in sub-Saharan Africa have lost access to “mother mentors,” trusted community workers who connect them to HIV care.

It also warned that adolescent girls and young women, who already face disproportionate risks, remain especially vulnerable, with 570 new HIV infections occurring daily among young women aged 15 to 24.

UNAIDS cautioned that dismantled prevention programmes and underfunded women-led organisations threaten to exacerbate the crisis.

More than 60 per cent of such organisations reported having to suspend essential services.

Modelling by the agency suggests that failure to restore prevention efforts could result in an additional 3.3 million new HIV infections between 2025 and 2030.

The UN agency called on world leaders to reaffirm global solidarity and multilateral commitments, maintain and increase HIV funding, invest in innovative prevention tools, and uphold human rights and community empowerment.

Byanyima emphasised that urgent action is required to prevent the reversal of decades of hard-won progress.

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“The funding crisis has exposed the fragility of the progress we fought so hard to achieve,” Byanyima said. “This is our moment to choose. Millions of lives depend on the choices we make today.”