This initiative forms a key component of the activities planned for the 2025 World AIDS Day commemoration. It reinforces LSACA?s commitment to expanding access to HIV testing, promoting early diagnosis, and strengthening linkage to care. The Agency aims to close existing testing gaps while deepening community awareness on HIV prevention, management, and stigma reduction.

Speaking on the upcoming exercise, the Chief Executive Officer of LSACA, Dr. Folakemi Animashaun, emphasised the critical role of early testing in advancing the state?s public health objectives.

?As we approach the 2025 World AIDS Day, our priority is to ensure that every resident of Lagos has the opportunity to know their HIV status in a safe, confidential, and accessible manner. Testing remains the gateway to prevention and treatment, and this statewide exercise underscores our commitment to safeguarding the health and well-being of all Lagosians.?

Animashaun added that LSACA, working in collaboration with development partners and community-based organisations, has deployed trained counsellor-testers, adequate testing kits, condoms, and IEC materials to ensure smooth implementation across the state.

She further encouraged residents to take advantage of the designated testing points within their LGAs and LCDA?s to access the free, confidential, and non-judgmental services.

Reaffirming the state government?s dedication to improving healthcare access, she highlighted ongoing efforts to expand HIV testing and counselling centres as well as intensify awareness campaigns aimed at preventing new infections and ensuring residents have access to necessary prevention, testing, and treatment resources.

In other news, the House of Representatives on Monday inaugurated an investigative hearing into the over $4.6 billion grants Nigeria received between 2021 and 2025 from the Global Fund ($1.8 billion) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ($2.8 billion) for combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and strengthening health systems.

Chairman of the House Committee on Infectious Diseases, Amobi Godwin Ogah, said the probe is critical to ascertain how the funds were utilised and to ensure accountability in managing resources aimed at tackling these major public health threats.

Ogah recalled that during plenary on October 21, 2025, the House mandated the then Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Control (ATM) to investigate the matter.

He commended Speaker Tajudeen Abbas for renaming and expanding the committee?s mandate to cover broader infectious disease issues, reflecting a comprehensive approach to public health oversight.

?Nigeria continues to suffer from the heavy burden of HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and other infectious diseases. While donor funds are mobilised to combat these challenges, the impact on the ground remains limited,? Ogah said. (The Guardian)

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