Nigeria is intensifying efforts to strengthen domestic financing for its HIV response as declining international donor support threatens decades of progress in HIV prevention, treatment and care.

The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Temitope Ilori, made this known on Wednesday at the Nigeria side event during the 26th International AIDS Conference (IAS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Speaking on the theme, “Sustainability: Strengthening Resource Mobilisation for the National HIV Response in Nigeria,” Ms Ilori said the country must transition to a more resilient and self-reliant HIV programme capable of withstanding changing global economic realities.

Ms Ilori said Nigeria has recorded significant progress in tackling HIV over the past two decades through partnerships involving the federal government, development partners, civil society organisations, communities of people living with HIV and the private sector.

However, she warned that changing global economic realities and declining development assistance require the country to rethink how it finances its HIV programme.

“The future of the HIV response depends not only on scientific breakthroughs and effective interventions but also on our collective ability to build resilient, sustainable financing systems that can withstand evolving global economic realities,” she said.

She said sustainability extends beyond replacing donor funding with domestic resources.

According to her, it also requires stronger institutions, improved governance, greater efficiency, innovation and expanded partnerships to ensure available resources deliver maximum impact.

Funding pressures

Ms Ilori’s remarks come as global HIV financing faces increasing pressure.

A recent report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) showed that international donor funding for HIV programmes fell by 25 per cent in 2025, the largest single-year decline since global HIV financing began expanding.

The report attributed the drop largely to reductions in financial support from the United States, stemming from funding delays and the cancellation of several international health programmes.

The funding cuts have disrupted HIV services across several African countries, prompting governments to explore emergency funding measures and longer-term domestic financing options.

In Nigeria, PREMIUM TIMES has reported that reductions in donor support disrupted community-based HIV treatment and support programmes, raising concerns about continuity of care for people living with HIV.

To address the challenge, the federal government launched the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (NSP) 2026–2030 in June, which seeks to transition the country’s HIV response from donor dependence to greater domestic financing and national ownership.

Turning lessons into action

As part of efforts to strengthen the national response, Ms Ilori announced that NACA would convene a post-IAS stakeholders’ engagement after the conference.

She said the meeting would review key scientific advances, policy directions and best practices emerging from IAS 2026 and adapt them to Nigeria’s HIV programme.

“We are here not merely to discuss challenges but to identify actionable solutions and forge stronger partnerships that will shape the future of Nigeria’s HIV response,” she said.

Nigeria-Brazil partnership

Also speaking, Nigeria’s Charge d’Affaires to Brazil, Basil Okolo, said the renewed strategic partnership between Nigeria and Brazil presents opportunities to deepen cooperation in the health sector.

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He said recent bilateral engagements between the two countries reaffirmed their commitment to expanding collaboration through knowledge exchange, local manufacturing of health commodities, research, regulatory strengthening, and health systems innovation.

Mr Okolo said stronger partnerships among governments, development partners, academia, civil society, communities and the private sector would be critical to achieving sustainable health outcomes.

He thanked Nigeria’s partners for their continued support of the country’s HIV response and called for continued collaboration.

The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) has identified inadequate funding, weak research infrastructure and equipment shortages as major obstacles to developing and integrating herbal medicine into Nigeria’s healthcare system.

The Director-General of the agency, Martins Emeje, disclosed this on Tuesday during a one-day working visit by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Kingsley Udeh, to the agency’s headquarters in Lagos.

Mr Emeje said the challenges have slowed efforts to validate traditional medicines scientifically and develop locally produced herbal products that can be safely incorporated into healthcare.

The NNMDA is Nigeria’s only trans-cultural medical research agency responsible for researching, developing and promoting natural medicines derived from the country’s biodiversity.

Funding and infrastructure challenges

According to Mr Emeje, the agency lacks adequate funding to acquire critical research equipment and expand its scientific infrastructure.

He also identified low public awareness of the agency’s activities, inadequate staffing and limited opportunities for capacity development as constraints affecting its operations.

The agency said it also needs to expand its research and development facilities, including experimental medicinal plant farms across the country’s six geopolitical zones, while strengthening pre-clinical and clinical studies needed to establish the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicines.

Mr Emeje further raised concerns over what he described as unclear guidelines for the clinical evaluation of herbal medicines and their integration into Nigeria’s healthcare system.

He added that traditional medicine knowledge continues to suffer from poor public perception despite Nigeria’s rich biodiversity and abundance of medicinal plants.

Call for clinical laboratory

The agency’s director-general said one of its most urgent needs is a clinical observation laboratory to support scientific evaluation of herbal medicines.

He also requested the construction of chalets to accommodate researchers who often work beyond normal office hours.

Responding, Mr Udeh acknowledged the agency’s request and said the ministry would explore alternative financing options instead of relying solely on government budget allocations.

“The clinical observatory lab, which has been one of the major needs of the agency that’s been brought to my attention, is something that even the DG has mentioned, and we are not talking about taking the responsibility to have it done by tomorrow,” Mr Udeh said.

“We are sitting down today to innovatively identify ways of accessing funds to have it done. It mustn’t be budgeted funds. From what we are doing here, stakeholders can support in doing it. Stakeholders from the private sector can support it. We can also access some grants and other funds that we can use to make this a reality.”

The minister added that some ‘stakeholders’ had already expressed willingness to support the agency’s work.

Nigeria-India collaboration

During the visit, India’s Consul in Lagos, Kannan Chockalingam, called for stronger collaboration between Nigeria and India in traditional medicine.

He said the partnership could focus on biodiversity conservation, quality assurance, scientific validation and innovation in herbal medicine.

According to him, innovation in traditional medicine involves applying modern scientific methods to validate and standardise existing indigenous knowledge, creating opportunities for research, product development and integration into national healthcare systems.

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Seven herbal products unveiled

The minister also unveiled seven locally developed herbal products designed for the management of conditions including cancer, hepatitis, peptic ulcers, high cholesterol, hypertension and male sexual health.

He commended Mr Emeje for his leadership and pledged to engage industry stakeholders to accelerate the commercialisation of the agency’s herbal products.

“We will engage industry leaders on how to get these products into the market,” Mr Udeh said.