Nigeria recorded 102,025 new HIV infections across its 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2025, with Lagos State accounting for the highest number of new cases at 10,430, according to the 2025 State of the Health of the Nation Report released by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
According to DIP CONNECT ONLINE NEWS, the report provides a comprehensive state-by-state analysis of newly reported HIV infections, highlighting the continued spread of the virus despite years of intensified prevention and treatment efforts by the Federal Government and its development partners.
The report showed that Lagos recorded the highest number of new HIV infections with 10,430 cases, followed by Rivers State with 6,287 and Kano State with 6,106.
Other states with high numbers of newly reported infections include Akwa Ibom with 5,413, Taraba with 4,854, Benue with 4,804, Anambra with 4,468, Kaduna with 3,659, Adamawa with 2,989, and the Federal Capital Territory with 2,764 cases.
States that also recorded more than 2,000 new infections include Cross River (2,595), Sokoto (2,592), 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 infection scale were Ekiti with 462 new cases, Bayelsa (982), Gombe (1,083), Osun (1,093), Kwara (1,371), Enugu (1,429), Yobe (1,483), Katsina (1,541) and Kebbi (1,572).
The figures underscore that HIV remains a major public health concern in Nigeria despite sustained progress in expanding access to treatment and reducing AIDS-related deaths.
Nigeria currently operates one of the world's largest HIV treatment programmes, with millions of people living with the virus receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy through government-supported health facilities and donor-funded interventions.
However, public health experts have consistently warned that reducing the number of new infections remains one of Nigeria's biggest challenges, particularly among young people, adolescent girls and young women, HIV-exposed infants and other key populations.
In recent years, the Federal Government, through the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), has strengthened efforts to curb the spread of HIV by expanding free HIV testing services, increasing access to antiretroviral drugs, scaling up Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes, promoting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk groups, improving public awareness campaigns and enhancing disease surveillance through digital health information systems.
The government has also aligned its response with the global 95-95-95 targets, which aim to ensure 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 individuals on treatment achieve viral suppression.
Health authorities maintain that meeting these targets is critical 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 although significant progress has been made globally in reducing HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, the gains remain fragile.
She revealed that approximately 1.3 million people contracted HIV worldwide in 2024, stressing that continued investment in prevention, testing and treatment is essential to keeping the epidemic under control.
Earlier, during a Multistakeholder Consultation on the Global AIDS Strategy held on April 28, 2025, Byanyima cautioned that HIV "is not over" and urged governments to strengthen domestic funding while sustaining prevention programmes to avoid a resurgence of infections.
Similarly, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr. Temitope Ilori, has repeatedly called for increased domestic investment and stronger community-led interventions to sustain Nigeria's HIV response.
Speaking at several public engagements in 2025, Ilori reaffirmed Nigeria's commitment to reducing new HIV infections by expanding access to testing, treatment and prevention services while strengthening the country's healthcare system.
Public health experts have also warned that declining international donor support could reverse decades of progress if governments fail to increase domestic funding for HIV programmes.
According to UNAIDS, disruptions to HIV prevention services could result in a significant increase in new infections, particularly in countries with a high disease burden such as Nigeria.
Although Nigeria has recorded substantial progress compared to previous decades, the 102,025 new HIV infections reported in 2025 indicate that the epidemic remains a serious public health challenge.
The latest data further show that Nigeria's HIV burden continues to be concentrated in a few states, with Lagos, Rivers and Kano accounting for a significant proportion of all newly recorded infections during the year.
ADEOLA KUNLE
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