A total of 102,025 new HIV infections were recorded across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in 2025, with Lagos State accounting for the highest number of new cases at 10,430, according to data obtained from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s State of the Health of the Nation Report 2025.

The report, obtained by our correspondent, provides a state-by-state breakdown of newly recorded HIV infections and highlights the geographical distribution of the epidemic despite years of intensified prevention efforts by the Federal Government and its partners.

The data showed that Lagos recorded the highest number of new HIV infections in 2025 with 10,430 cases.

Rivers State followed with 6,287 new infections, while Kano recorded 6,106 cases.

Akwa Ibom reported 5,413 new infections, Taraba had 4,854, Benue recorded 4,804, and Anambra accounted for 4,468 cases. Kaduna registered 3,659 new infections, while Adamawa and the Federal Capital Territory recorded 2,989 and 2,764 cases, respectively, completing the list of the 10 states with the highest number of new HIV infections during the year.

Other states recording more than 2,000 new infections included Sokoto (2,592), Cross River (2,595), Abia (2,546), Imo (2,537), Delta (2,469), Borno (2,311), Ogun (2,107), Plateau (2,084), Niger (2,020) and Ebonyi (2,015).

At the lower end of the scale were Ekiti with 462 new infections, Bayelsa with 982, Gombe with 1,083, Osun with 1,093, Kwara with 1,371, Enugu with 1,429, Yobe with 1,483, Katsina with 1,541 and Kebbi with 1,572.

The figures underscore that HIV remains a significant public health challenge in Nigeria despite years of progress in expanding access to treatment and reducing AIDS-related deaths.

Nigeria is home to one of the largest HIV treatment programmes in the world, with millions of people living with the virus receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy through government-supported facilities and donor-funded interventions.

However, public health experts have consistently warned that reducing new infections remains one of the country’s greatest challenges, particularly among young people, adolescent girls and young women, infants exposed to HIV, and key populations.

In recent years, the Federal Government, working through the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, has intensified efforts to curb the spread of HIV by expanding free HIV testing services, increasing access to antiretroviral medicines, scaling up Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission programmes, promoting pre-exposure prophylaxis for high-risk groups, strengthening community awareness campaigns and improving surveillance through digital health information systems.

The government has also adopted the global 95-95-95 targets, aimed at ensuring that 95 per cent of people living with HIV know their status, 95 per cent of those diagnosed receive sustained treatment, and 95 per cent of those on treatment achieve viral suppression.

Health authorities say achieving these targets is essential to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Speaking during the launch of the 2025 Global AIDS Update on July 10, 2025, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima warned that while the world has made remarkable gains in reducing HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, progress remains fragile.

She noted that approximately 1.3 million people acquired HIV globally in 2024, stressing that sustained investments in prevention, testing and treatment are critical to keeping the epidemic under control.

Earlier, at a Multistakeholder Consultation on the Global AIDS Strategy on April 28, 2025, Byanyima cautioned that HIV “is not over,” urging governments to strengthen domestic financing and maintain prevention programmes to avoid a resurgence of infections.

Similarly, NACA Director-General, Dr Temitope Ilori, has repeatedly stressed the need for stronger domestic financing and community-led interventions to sustain Nigeria’s HIV response.

Speaking at various engagements in 2025, she said Nigeria was committed to reducing new HIV infections through improved access to testing, treatment and prevention services while strengthening the country’s health systems.

Public health experts have also warned that declining international donor funding could undermine decades of progress if governments fail to increase domestic investment in HIV programmes.

According to UNAIDS, interruptions in prevention services could lead to a rise in new infections, particularly in countries with high HIV burdens such as Nigeria.

Although Nigeria has made significant progress compared to previous decades, the 102,025 new infections recorded in 2025 illustrate that the epidemic remains far from over.

The latest data suggest that the country’s HIV burden continues to be concentrated in a handful of states, with Lagos, Rivers and Kano accounting for a substantial proportion of newly reported cases. (The PUNCH)

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